I’m re-reading Poor Charlie’s Almanack for the fifth time or so.
Charlie Munger was a learning machine.
His friend and fellow investor, Mohnish Pabrai, said that Munger had one table on each side of his reading chair. Munger would plow through book-after-book, moving books from the to-be-read table to the other.
He estimates Munger would at least skim up to 500 books per year.
Into his nineties.
Here are not-so-obvious benefits of voracious learning:
Make better decisions
Six years ago I began studying value investing.
I read every book I could find written about Warren Buffett. I read everything written by Warren Buffett.
Then I read everything written by Charlie Munger, Howard Marks, Joel Greenblatt, Mohnish Pabrai, and other accomplished investors.
Most entrepreneurs lose money investing.
I did too, until I studied value investing.
I made better investment decisions and better decisions in my own businesses.
For $15, you can get 200 pages detailing the path, pain, and lessons of someone more experienced than you.
Authors often spend months writing books—and decades accumulating experiences they share in them—than you can absorb in a few hours.
It’s the most lopsided value proposition available to all of us.
Make more money
Making money requires two skills: discipline and decision-making.
Discipline is most easily developed by doing the most necessary, most unpleasant thing first every day.
Decision-making is developed through one’s own experiences and learning from the experiences of others.
If you have a choice, learn from others’ mistakes.
Much of success in business comes down to the following:
- The right industry
- The right business model
- The right product
- The right marketing strategy
You can discover all of that by learning from others more experienced than you.
Knowing the right industry, model, product, and marketing strategy won’t guarantee success, but your odds of success increase significantly.
I’ve seen too many people stagnate because they put their heads down and pound away at an inferior business rather than looking up to see where the easier money is being made.
Be more useful to your fellow humans
Especially in today’s hyper-polarized world, it’s more important than ever for us to realize that learning not only makes us more successful but is also a moral duty.
There’s too much ignorance and too much close-mindedness.
Munger often mentioned that the human mind was much like an egg, once one idea (sperm) gets in, it closes itself off.
Read widely. Learn from others you disagree with. Explore why you might be wrong.
Aim to be more rational, more objective, more open-minded.
Seek truth, not dogma.
You should have very few ideas held so tightly that you’re unwilling to entertain arguments against them.
In your learning, seek both depth and breadth.
Depth to learn from virtuous people.
Breadth to discover the truth.
This is also why I prefer books to every other learning medium. It’s harder to go so far down a rabbit hole of craziness that you can’t find your way out at Barnes & Noble than it is on YouTube.
Keep learning. Keep reading.
Aim to live up to the best principles and virtues you uncover.
—Matt