The reader’s research desk

Read risk language with a pencil

A simple way to mark conditions, limits and missing context as you read.

Underline the condition

When a sentence makes a claim about what might happen, look for its conditions. Words such as may, typically and under can carry much of the meaning. Copying only the exciting part can remove the qualification that made the statement accurate.

In your notes, rewrite the claim as a question. What would need to be true? What period is being discussed? Whose circumstances does the example describe? If the answer is not in the source, mark it as an open question rather than supplying your own.

Keep examples in their lane

An example is a way of explaining an idea. Before using one as the basis for a real decision, identify the inputs, dates and assumptions that make it work. Keep hypothetical figures clearly labeled as hypothetical in your own notes.

A personal story is also a particular case. It can raise a useful question without proving that the same outcome will follow for another reader. Record what the story illustrates and what additional evidence you would need to generalize from it.

Write the limit beside the insight

End each reading note with two lines: what I learned, and what this does not establish. The second line helps keep a useful introduction from becoming a stronger conclusion than its evidence supports.

Use the free starter worksheet to practice with a paragraph of your choice. The books and original companion materials on this site are educational reading resources. They do not provide individualized financial, tax or legal advice, and this journal makes no promise about price movements or outcomes.