The most highlighted sentence from the Kindle version of The Start-Up of You is:
The fastest way to change yourself is to hang out with people who are already the way you want to be.
I did have a feeling that sentence was a winner when we wrote the book, but in the electronic age it’s interesting to be able to see data around it.
I should note that there is a rich-get-richer effect with highlights on the Kindle. Unless you turn it off, as a reader you begin to automatically see flags on the sentences that other readers have most underlined. This no doubt influences you to highlight the same.
I noticed this, and had been double-checking my impulse to highlight anything popular. I would leave it on though, it’s interesting to see what the mass finds profound. My favorite quote in your book is ‘Keeping it permanent beta forces you to acknowledge that you have bugs.’
Do you REALLY find this sentence that profound? Statements like this that generalize a persons thinking may capture an individuals today situation, but in doing so, they fail to see the forest for the trees.
We have have flaws, weaknesses. HANGING OUT with whomever doesn’t fix those flaws.
Come on man! You’re smarter than that.
Curious… does Amazon give you any data to the demographic profile of people that highlight?
Probably not, but I’d be really curious…
And to see what the first thing highlighted was.
No it doesn’t, even though Amazon surely has the data.
i would think that kindle owners who actually use the highlighting feature would be a specific enough demographic profile haha
I couldn’t agree more with this sentiment…we naturally adopt the mores of our closest peers so we should choose them wisely!
I never highlight in my Kindle. Am I just odd???
Maybe you are right, but this should not detract from the comment. We can see this very much in sports. Would Navratalova have been so good without Graff and Evert?
Would the Beatles have been so good individually?
The answer to these questions for me is “no” they would not, I believe that the comment is probably correctly highlighted.
In all votes in life (which is what the highlighting is) there are bound to be a few follow the crowd moments. However, this probably evens itself over time. Or do you disagree and that one highlighting influences others to do the same?
I would agree with the essence of the thought that hanging out with the people who are like what you want to be is OK; but, maintaining the core beliefs of your upbringing and family are important aspects of who you are. Who you want to be, and hang out with is a product of who you were when you decided who to hang out with whomever.
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