The Details are better than the Summary, but too many of us only want the Cliff Notes of an important work. Cliff Notes, you say? Yes. That Summary work that will hopefully give you enough meat and analysis of a work of literature so you will not need to read the entire thing…or, for others, it’s the “Reader’s Digest” version where 1,000 pages is condensed into 300 pages or so.
Well. I enjoy a good Summary, but I will tell you that I’m a “Details” kind of person. Give be the backstory, history, etymology, reason and all the “why’s” of a good Summary and I will be happy.
If Summaries are all I ingest then I’m leaving a host of valuable information behind that is only found in the Details.
Let me tell you how I’m thinking this through. Yesterday, while researching some information on my blog, I found quotes from a professor who was dying of cancer a decade ago. With months left to live, he gave his now-famous “Last Lecture” (Great Book!) that he called “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams“. (I’ve been listening to his lecture while I write.) My search gave me wonderful excerpts of video, audio and eye-readable summaries of his life and those important nuggets he wanted to leave with his children, students, family, and friends.
Now. He’s not the only one to face life-ending decisions. This is something every one of us will have to come to grips with at some point in our future. Either you have the time to make the decisions like Randy Pausch did (just 5 years younger than I), or it may come suddenly, or even out of your control. Regardless, the summaries of his “Last Lecture” (book and video) read like a laundry list of how best to live your life and be ready to leave it without all the regrets we would probably face.
Bruce Feiler (another favorite author and videographer) faced this same kind of predicament and penned his work based on his answer to his potential mortality. He made a plan on who would become his replacement to his twin daughters, and it wasn’t’ a new husband for his wife, rather, these men were chosen by what they could provide to his daughters when they were in need of a “daddy moment” of instruction, only, he wasn’t there. I recommend Bruce and his book to you, “The Council of Dad’s“.
From a scriptural standpoint, you could read the Apostle Paul’s last known epistle (letter) to his young protege, Timothy. In his letter, II Timothy, we find Paul giving him final words of advice on continuing the work that began a long time prior. It’s a short letter, but packed with fatherly advice that should help each of us consider where we are, what we are doing, are we headed in the right direction, and who are we pouring ourselves into for the next generation.
It comes to me as I read back through this that Summaries are often the Details we’ve poured into someone who is in a position of succession. Fading off the scene, who have you prepared to succeed you, and what have you poured into them, and are they ready to carry the load to the next fork in the road. As my pastor said, “When you get ready to retire you must use your turn signal.” Why? So the person behind knows they are next in line to get on down the road in your stead.
So. Back to my title. I love summaries that someone has grasped all of life’s knowable lessons and rolled them into some memorable homily that is easily read and understood. And followed. You must remember, however,
Summaries are often presented through the eyes and filter of the presenter! Click To TweetAt the same time, I love to know the backstory. The details that make up the summary. When someone is trying their best to summarize a story to me, my mind keeps interrupting their recital to ask for the details that make up the summary. Really. That’s what I do. That’s how I make the summary stick in my mind. I know the details!
You have perhaps heard the adage, “The devil is in the details” and it actually comes from an earlier statement that follows the same premise except its “God is in the details.”
Devil. Or God. You. Or Me. Finished product. Or the depth it takes to produce the final version. The thought warrants a discussion.
When you walk into the grocery store to purchase a hamburger helper, or back of chips, or even a cake mix, consider all the ingredients, testing, tasting and final decision to produce the product. I mean, someone spent an enormous budget on the coloring of the package, it’s size, the fine print. Someone else spends a huge time researching the cost and how many ounces do they need to provide for the cost to make sense! Someone spent a lot of time to select all those words we cannot pronounce, along with the testing of the product to see if it would produce something to be enjoyed.
It’s like visiting a favorite restaurant and enjoying a special dish you saw advertised or read a review about, or simply have enjoyed for years because it fits your palate.
Both of these events give you a result, a summary, of all the hard work that happens out of sight for you to enjoy the benefits of another’s hard work.
You get to enjoy the summary of a lot detail. Everyday. Day in. Day out.
True. You have to do something with what you received, and you get to share your own summary of the results and post them on Yelp or some review site, and thousands will follow your suggestion based on your summary!
But wait. Your sampling of the results does not guarantee another person will enjoy as you might have. We have all bragged about something we enjoyed, and someone else sort of shrugs their shoulder and says, “Nyeh…” Our taste buds are different, water springs forth with different minerals and chemicals that can change the results. Temperatures are easily confused and something might toast a little longer than when you enjoyed. Someone had a bad day in the prep, delivery, or consumption of the item.
To me, Summaries are not Enough! I need the Details behind the Summary so I can make up my own conclusion. I may not understand the Details, but give me the chance to make up my own Summary from my own experience! Think about it. You may not understand the science behind how a computer works, but you get to enjoy the Summary of years of Details that get you to the point you are right now. Reading on a screen that has been decades in the making!
One last thought. Too often we lose the information of the Details on how to do something because all we know are Summaries. I remember when the HP handheld calculator started showing up back in the early 70’s. Hundreds of dollars for something that may cost pennies today. I remember math teachers everywhere warning that we will get to the point of allowing the calculator (computer) do all the work and will forget the math order to arrive at an answer the old-fashioned way. By Hand!
Example: 2 + 3 x 4 = ___________ (you fill in the blank). What we learned in early math classes were the order of operations for all math equations. Somewhere, some time, someone decided there needed to be a key to the operations of math statements that everyone would follow. “Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally” is the quaint saying (mnemonic) to remember the order of operations of any math equation. PEMDAS. (Now, I don’t necessarily remember this from the 60’s or early 70’s, but the Summary (answer) is found in the knowing the order (Details) of the language of math.
(2 + 3) x 4 = 20 or 2 + (3 x 4) = 14
What’s the Answer? You have to know the Details in order to come up with the correct Summary…
What does the mnemonic (PEMDAS) mean? Parenthesis, Exponents. Multiplication, Division. Addition. Subtraction. Since Multiplication comes before Addition, then the Parenthesis wraps around the multiplication portion and what’s in Parenthesis gets done first. With this Math Key, you know the correct answer to the equation is 14. Multiplication comes before addition. So, even if the Parenthesis are absent, you know how to compute so the Equation works according to the Key – PEMDAS…
It’s like this everywhere. Maps have Keys so you know how to apply distance and other calculations to your route selection. What’s the conversion between monetary systems, and what’s the value of one currency against another? What’s the format of a language so you can translate between different languages and get your verbs and nouns in the correct order? What’s the System of Measurements being used in each country so you can transfer between different measurement systems? What’s the key to converting between one thing and another?
Quick… What was the number in the picture for this blog post? The summary of a lot of work revolves around the answer of pie that we all know so well. Do you know the history of it’s existence, or are you a Summary king of person only happy in knowing the result?
So. Enjoy the Summaries while you may, but do not forget that behind every Summary is a host of Details that you should be aware of. Apply this to individuals? Sure. Why not. That person you see and admire by the Summary of their visage covers up a lot of potentially complicated Details that may just change your mind about the value of the Summary.
Wow great way to land the punch line she was pretty when I saw her but after we talked the ugly showed through😎
We are a Summary Conscious world. Looks matter, true, but the depth of the person’s details are lifelong and not pleasing in just a glance! Thanks for noting my closing!