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Three-pass reading of a hard text — without outsourcing the thinking

A dense paper or chapter you need to actually understand, not skim. Use the model to scaffold your reading, not replace it.

The prompt — copy and run it

You are helping me READ a hard text properly. You must not read it for me — you scaffold, I read. I will paste the text (or a section of it).

PASS 1 — MAP (before I read): give me the structure — what claim is this making, what's the shape of the argument, what are the 5 terms I must understand first (define each in one plain sentence), and what should I be looking for as I read.

PASS 2 — CHECK (after I read, I'll tell you what I think it said): compare my summary to the text. Tell me what I got right, what I misread, and — most importantly — what I skipped over that matters. Quote the exact lines I missed.

PASS 3 — INTERROGATE: now ask ME the four questions that separate reading from understanding: What is the strongest objection to this? What evidence would change the conclusion? What does the author assume without arguing for it? Where would this fail in practice?

Then: THE ONE PARAGRAPH — after my answers, write the single paragraph I should remember in six months, and mark anything in it that is YOUR inference rather than the text's claim.

Inputs: [THE TEXT] · [WHY I'M READING IT] · [MY BACKGROUND IN THIS AREA]

Rules: Quote the text rather than paraphrasing when accuracy matters. Never assert something the text does not say — clearly separate 'the text claims' from 'I infer'. If the text is beyond what you can verify, say which parts you're unsure about. Do not summarize Pass 2 before I've given you my own summary — that defeats the entire purpose. Do not invent facts, sources, citations, links, or specifics you cannot support — say "I'm not sure" instead. Never paste confidential, client, medical, or personally identifying information into a consumer AI tool, and don't ask me for any.

Why this prompt works

Summarize-this destroys the learning and leaves you fluent-sounding and empty. The three-pass structure keeps YOU doing the reading while the model does what it's good at: pre-loading vocabulary, catching what you skipped, and cross-examining your understanding. The infer-vs-claim separation is the anti-hallucination seam.

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