- There are network effects between books / knowledge gained from books;
- Not all network connections are created equal;
- New books within your areas of experience and specialism will strengthen that part of your network but are subject to the law of diminishing returns: once you’ve read the classics, the remaining books are likely to be less good;
- The best books from areas outside your experience and specialism are very high quality, and so offer great value. Some of these – let’s call them “broker books” – offer even greater value by providing bridges for your existing knowledge-net into entirely new areas.
- This in turn gives you an opportunity (to be useful, to have fun, to create value) as a knowledge broker, widening the bottlenecks of the knowledge-network.