# Holden Karnofsky - Learning by Writing (Highlights)  ## Metadata **Review**:: [readwise.io](https://readwise.io/bookreview/62058367) **Source**:: #from/readwise #from/reader **Zettel**:: #zettel/fleeting **Status**:: #x **Authors**:: [[Holden Karnofsky]] **Full Title**:: Learning by Writing **Category**:: #articles #readwise/articles **Category Icon**:: 📰 **URL**:: [www.cold-takes.com](https://www.cold-takes.com/learning-by-writing/) **Host**:: [[www.cold-takes.com]] **Highlighted**:: [[2026-07-15]] **Created**:: [[2026-07-18]] ## Highlights - But step 3 is a different kind of challenge: trying to “always have a hypothesis” and re-articulating it whenever it changes. By doing this, I try to **continually focus my reading on the goal of forming a bottom-line view, rather than just “gathering information.”** I think this makes my investigations more focused and directed, and the results easier to retain. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01kxk01h1c6nnn9jggj5v2bp86)) ^1034438733 - I form a hypothesis about whether the claim is true, LONG before I’m “qualified to have an opinion.” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01kxk05xsbgm8k9wjnzxfgw8xf)) ^1034438918 - By writing early, I get a chance to make sure I’ve written down the *version of the claim I care most about*, and make sure that any further investigation is focused on the things that matter most for changing my mind on this claim. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01kxk0bsrpytgvt2rymdvh4wf7)) ^1034439405 - I rarely read a book or paper “once from start to finish”; instead I energetically skip around trying to find the parts most likely to give me a solid reason to change my mind, read them carefully and often multiple times, try to figure out what else I should be reading (whether this is “other parts of the same document” or “academic papers on topic X”) to contextualize them, etc. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01kxk0dhe6s91zz71zpq08dzfx)) ^1034439622