 In the last video, we saw how Adler thinks that there is more to reading than simply recognizing words on a page. Well, okay, then if there's more to it than simply recognizing words, what else is there? Adler answers with his four levels of reading. Before I really launch into a brief explanation of these four levels of reading, I want to point something out. These four levels are, for the most part, the subject of the rest of Adler's book. In fact, he pretty much divides up the book according to these four levels. Now, consequently, this chapter is going to be pretty short, but it has a pretty big impact on the structure and content of the rest of the book. Well, the four levels that Adler gives us are elementary reading, inspectional reading, analytical reading, and synoptic reading. The first level of reading is elementary reading, and this is just where one learns the basic mechanics of reading, how to recognize words off a page. At this level, the main question really is, what does the sentence say? Inspectional reading is the second kind of reading, and this is reading quickly, really, in some important ways. It's systematic skimming, as opposed to speed reading. Speed reading, you just read really fast. Systematic skimming, you selectively read. You find parts of the book to read. And again, this will be explained in greater detail later on in the book, but the idea is you're trying to find out answers to questions like, what is the book about? What is the book about? What's the structure of the book? What's the main point that Adler's trying to prove or convey? And perhaps even more simply, what kind of book is it? The third level of reading is analytical reading, and this is very good and thorough reading. This is where the bulk of the questions that one asks while reading is dedicated at this level. Analytical reading is pretty much for understanding. Reading for understanding, we talked about last time. That means it's really not for reading for information or even really reading for entertainment. This is probably some of the most active reading. Synoptic reading is the highest form of reading. It's comparative reading. It's comparing what this author, what one author has said to another. Are the claims different? Are they asking the same question? Are the answers contrary or complementary or sufficient for one another? What's the relationship, if any, between what one author has to say and another? What if the books have a different kind? What impact does this field have on that field? Synoptic reading is the deepest and highest form of reading. A very simple reason that what you understand in synoptic reading is not contained in any one book. Well, this set of descriptions has been rather painfully short for the four levels of reading. But, you know, that's kind of the point. Adler just intended this chapter to introduce the four levels of reading to kind of prepare you for the rest of the book. He goes into more detail for each of these levels as the book progresses. So this chapter is painfully short and, yeah, this video is rather short. What do you think that's painful or not?