A week ago, I started an experiment. Instead of falling into my usual pattern of buying both the audiobook and the ebook version of “Broken Money” by Lyn Alden, I decided to challenge myself: Could I extract maximum knowledge from just the audiobook? Could I build a comprehensive knowledge graph without ever opening the Kindle version?

The stakes feel higher than usual because this isn’t just about saving money or time. It’s about fundamentally changing how I approach learning from audiobooks. And honestly, I’m not sure it’s going to work.

If you’re like most audiobook listeners, this scenario probably sounds familiar: You finish an excellent book, feeling inspired and full of new insights. A week later, someone asks you what the book was about, and you struggle to recall more than a few vague concepts. A month later, you can barely remember the main thesis.

Flashcards combined with the Spaced Repetition System is a solid way to learn and remember the main ideas of what you read. With this approach you break down your book into small, digestible pieces of knowledge and create flashcards to trigger active recall. The Spaced Repetition Method makes sure that you test your memory at strategically timed intervals with shorter intervals for harder to remember content and longer intervals for easier content.

But there’s a challenge: when you break a book into individual pieces, you might lose sight of how everything connects. Depending on the type of book and your learning goals, you may need to preserve not just individual facts, but also the structure of arguments and how different concepts relate to each other. This can be achieved by adding cards that focus specifically on the book’s organization, or by including hints on regular cards that remind you where each piece of information fits in the author’s overall argument.

You’ve probably done it countless times without realizing it. When preparing for a crucial exam, you instinctively break down a textbook chapter by chapter, then section by section, distilling complex ideas into concise summaries that capture the essence of hundreds of pages in just a few key points. This natural learning pattern has a name: Nested Summarization.

This isn’t just another study hack—it’s the way our minds naturally organize and retain complex information. By working from the bottom up through a book’s hierarchical structure, you’re not just memorizing facts; you’re building a mental framework that transforms how you understand and remember knowledge.

Whether you’re a student cramming for finals, a professional mastering new skills, or a lifelong learner diving into complex subjects, Nested Summarization will change your approach to learning. It’s time to give this intuitive technique the recognition and systematic approach it deserves.

The world of knowledge management has been revolutionized by tools that promise to transform how we connect ideas. Apps like Obsidian, Roam Research, and Notion have introduced millions to the concept of bidirectional linking, creating beautiful knowledge graphs that look like neural networks of pure thought. But beneath the visual appeal lies a fundamental question: do these connected notes actually help us learn better, or are we being seduced by complexity that doesn’t serve our cognitive needs?