To Be a Machine: Adventures Among Cyborgs, Utopians, Hackers, and the Futurists Solving the Modest Problem of Death
In non-fiction books, especially the well-written ones, authors have a main idea and secondary ideas that support it. To understand the text, you need to identify and understand the main idea.
Additionally, think of the main idea as the author's message. But how does a reader find what the message is? For a while now, I've been writing about inspecting or previewing a book before you read it. This will help you to identify the thesis of the book.
During the preview stage, it's important that you understand the author's main idea. Most times I find the main idea in the Introduction section of the book or in the first few paragraphs of the first chapter. However, I also get a sense of what the book is about when I'm reviewing the Table of Contents.
The Title and Subtitle and book description are usually helpful as well. But there are times when things aren’t that straightforward, so what do you do?
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What You Need to Know About Effective Reading
How to Find the Main Idea in a Nonfiction Book: To Be a Machine as an Example
Right now I’m reading To Be a Machine: Adventures Among Cyborgs, Utopians, Hackers, and the Futurists Solving the Modest Problem of Death
by Mark O'Connell. I own the e-book version, so I’m not sure if the print copy is different. However, the book doesn’t have an Introduction, Preface, Foreword or Index. Take a look at the image below and see if you can figure out what's the main concept of this book.
And here is the book description that I pulled from Amazon to give you more information and context. What do you think?
- In your opinion, what is the key message in the book?
- Do you have enough information to make a guess?
- What are some words that stand out for you?
I got the book because some key words stood out for me. And I also have some big questions. In the title, there is solving the modest problem of death, what does that mean? Can death be solved? Is this about extending life? Was he thinking about the bionic man?
When I read the book description, transhumanism popped out for me. And also the sentence about your body as a device stood out. I started to get an inkling of what the book was about. And I wanted to learn more.
“Transhumanism is a movement pushing the limits of our bodies—our capabilities, intelligence, and lifespans—in the hopes that, through technology, we can become something better than ourselves. It has found support among Silicon Valley billionaires and some of the world’s biggest businesses.” Amazon Book Description
Possible Main Idea of To Be a Machine
After inspecting the book, I concluded that the main idea of the book is to extend human life with the use of technology. More than likely I'll have to refine it, but this is a good place to start. It took me about 15 minutes to inspect the book. And I had to make do with the information I readily had access to.
The table of contents does not give you much to work with. You have two choices. You can choose to read the entire book. Or you can read the first and last paragraph of each chapter. The question for me is, “How serious am I about reading up on transhumanism?” And, “Will the book help me in any way?” For me, these are two very important questions.
How to Find the Main Idea in a Nonfiction Book: The Food Revolution Another Example
Let me use another example to determine the main idea of the nonfiction book, The Food Revolution
.
And here is the Table of Contents.
When inspecting The Food Revolution, you'll notice that the book has a Title, Subtitle, Preface, Table of Contents, two Introductions (one for the updated edition), Index, and the book description I pulled from Amazon. This time around we have a lot more information to work with to identify the main idea of The Food Revolution
.
The main idea of The Food Revolution is that when you move away from high-fat, animal-based diet to a low-fat, plant-based diet, living a healthier lifestyle, you can heal your body and the world. Doing this helps you to create a more sustainable way of life. The two introductions gave you insights into how changing the way yo eat can heal the planet.
“I have written The Food Revolution to provide solid, reliable information for the struggle to achieve a world where the health of people and the Earth community is more important than the profit margins of any industry, where basic human needs take precedence over corporate greed. I have written this book so that you might have clear information on which to base your food choices. It will show you how to attain greater health and respond more deeply from your connection to all of life.” John Robbins.
How to Find the Main Idea in a Nonfiction Book: The Thing About Reading Books
As I learn more about effective reading, I realize that you often have to figure out things for yourself. As I illustrated above with To Be a Machine and The Food Revolution, you'll never have what you expect when you inspect a book. And that's the way it's with life. You have to make choices. And you have to work with what you have. It balances out in the end. You'll figure out what the main idea is of the book. It may take longer to do so, based on how much information you have.
It's important to invest the time to figure out the main idea of the nonfiction book that you plan to read. Think of the main idea as a skeleton. You add the content of the book to the skeleton. However, how much content you add to the skeleton will determine how lean or fat the final form will be. Not every piece of information in the book will add to your understanding of the text.
Having a purpose for reading the book, as well as understanding the main idea that the author is trying to communicate allows you to decide what's essential information. I'm building a tribe, Read a Book Solve a Problem, so I want to read as much of the book as I need to. And no more than that. This gives me the time I need to process more books.
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Final Thoughts on How to Find the Main Idea in a Nonfiction Book
As mentioned above, it's important to understand what a book is about before you start reading it. The main idea helps you to do that. Sometimes it's much easier to determine the message the author is trying to communicate. Providing the two examples show how much time it will take. Don't skip this step though, even if it will take more effort on your part.
In summary, here are the steps to find the main idea in a nonfiction book:
- State your one-sentence purpose for reading the book. This is the first time I'm mentioning this in the post because I've said it enough times in other posts.
- Preview or inspect the book by reading and/or reviewing the following sections of the book.
- Book Description
- Preface
- Foreword
- Introduction
- Table of Contents
- Index
If the book doesn't have all of the above sections, then you have to get creative. It may mean reading the first and last paragraph of every chapter. Do what you need to find the main idea in a nonfiction book. This will aid your understanding of the text when you decide to explore more deeply.
How Avil Can Help You!
If you do not want to gamify your reading, I invite you to Join the Performance Accelerator Plan that walks you through the process of learning key skills and more. You’ll be reading books to build skills and develop intercultural awareness. Get more reading and learning tips here.
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Read 30 Books in 30 Days Like Francis Bacon is not about speed reading. It’s about approaching every book differently and reading only the sections that align with your purpose.
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