For the Young Intellectual

Writing at The Washington Free Beacon, Matthew Continetti mentions that from time to time he's been asked by young men and women aspiring to become involved in the intellectual debates of our time what advice he would give to them.

He replies with a column titled "An Intellectual Starter Kit."

As you can imagine, he urges young intellectuals to read and to read voraciously. I personally don't see how it's possible to be an effective leader in any segment of our society that stresses ideas - whether politics, medicine, the military, the church, or anywhere - without being a reader, and I'm sure Continetti agrees.

He lists and explains five recommendations which I've given here along with my summaries of what he says in much more detail about them.

1. Be a generalist: Most of the noteworthy intellectuals of the twentieth century were well-rounded in philosophy, history, literature, politics and some science.
2. Don't skip the endnotes: There's often a treasure trove of information in the notes and they often suggest other books that are worth reading.
3. Explore the archives: This is advice geared more to those who'd like to work as writers for a journal and who want to absorb a journal's style.
4. Keep a notebook: Record quotes and passages that are specially noteworthy in everything you read. It can become a tremendous resource in one's own thought and writing.
5. Seek out educational opportunities: Seminars, lectures, online courses, etc. are excellent venues for sharpening one's own thinking.

For my part I think #1 and #4 are the two most helpful recommendations on his list. Read across a broad spectrum of disciplines, keep a record of the meaningful highlights of what you read, and, as C.S. Lewis and others have said, try to reread a book you read before in between new books.

When you reread a book it not only helps you to remember things about it you may have forgotten but you almost always see things in it that you didn't notice the first time around.

Check out the details of Continetti's advice for young intellectuals at the link.