Why I Recommend Listening to Fewer Audiobooks?

Discover why reading books leaves a deeper impression than listening to audiobooks, and how necessary difficulty enhances learning and memory.

Recently, I discovered that many people are gradually replacing reading with listening to audiobooks.

The year I listened to the most audiobooks was 2018. At the time, I had just started working far from home, with a long commute that took over an hour each way, involving both the subway and a bus. It was impossible to read while being jostled around during the journey.

So, every day during my commute, I would listen to audiobooks on Fan Deng Reading and on the app, DeDao. At first, I listened to books about family education, then moved on to psychology, and eventually, I listened to all kinds of books—over 300 that year.

After listening to audiobooks for over two years, I was shocked to realize that I could remember only a few of them.

Some books I had definitely listened to, but when I came across them again, they felt completely unfamiliar.

After that, I reduced my audiobook listening and chose to read more books instead.

I found that the books I had read left a deeper impression and I understood them more thoroughly.

I didn’t understand why until I came across a concept in a book on cognitive psychology—the theory of necessary difficulty.

This theory was proposed by cognitive scientists Li and Yorke in 1994.

What does it say?

Simply put, we often believe that the easier it is to memorize something, the easier it will be to recall later. But in reality, it’s the opposite: the more effort it takes to memorize something, the easier it is to recall later.

For example, if you write a review after watching a movie, you will remember its plot much better years later.

In school, if you not only learn a formula but also work through it yourself and explore its different applications, you will find it easier to use it during exams.

Reading books works in the same way. Following someone else’s mind map isn’t as effective as listening to an analysis. Listening to an analysis isn’t as effective as listening to the original text. And listening to the original text isn’t as effective as reading it yourself.

In short, when it comes to learning and cognition, we should try to increase the difficulty of our input.

What does this theory teach us?

Some difficulties simply cannot be avoided. If you avoid them, you will face problems later.

For example, for a truly great film, watching a movie analysis cannot replace experiencing the original film.

Similarly, listening to audiobooks or reading summaries cannot replace actually reading the book. Copying someone else’s book review cannot replace taking your own notes.

Only through effort can you gain deeper insights and stronger impressions.

That’s because this is how our brains process information.

As AI develops, information will become easier to access. When everyone becomes well-informed, what will make us stand out?

It’s the depth of your thinking and the uniqueness of your expression.

Developing these abilities is difficult and troublesome, but there’s no shortcut to this process.

As Hayao Miyazaki said: "Most of the important things in the world are very troublesome."