Chapters 25 & 26
Rolf's Points
(What's mentioned in the book)
On the difficulty of forming one's own thoughts see William Deresiewicz, 'Solitude and leadership. If you want others to follow, learn to be alone with your thoughts.' in The American Scholar, 1 March 2010.
See also Max Frisch's diaries, Tagebuch 1966 - 1971 (Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt and Main, 1972), p. 314.
For more on Ernest Hemingway see Robert Manning, 'Hemingway in Cuba' in The Atlantic, August 1965
90% of everything that's published is rubbish, regardless of genre.
- Theodore Sturgeon
American Sci-Fi Writer
Vale's Points
(What's supplemented when Vale was reading)
While some people might argue that they rely on the news as a source of material outside their circle of competence in order to get exposed to inspiration for creativity, what we should do is to actually schedule time for a deep nosedive into areas outside of our specialty, if you truly feel a need to delve into it. The key is to be more in control of how you spend your time. Create your own themes. Don't let the news media control what you should spend your time reading about.
One expects the news to function as a bullshit filter but in reality the news is a bullshit magnet. Nonsense is given top billing.
Once again it's very important in life to be sensitive and wary of things outside your circle of competence.