💡 Core Summary: Master this universal Prompt to see through the soul of any book and discover the ultimate question the author truly wants to answer

Introduction: Why Do We Need to See Through the Soul of Books?

In this era of information explosion, we encounter numerous books daily, but often only stay at surface-level understanding. Truly valuable reading is being able to see through the soul of books and discover the ultimate question the author truly wants to answer.

Today I'll share a battle-tested Prompt Engineering technique that allows you to quickly gain insights into the deep value of any book.

I. Theoretical Foundation

What is the "Hidden Door" of Books?

Every book has a "hidden door" - once opened, you can discover the hidden world within the book. Behind this door lies the author's deep thinking about some ultimate confusion.

Core Insights:

• 📚 Every book is the author's answer to some ultimate confusion
• 🔍 Methodology is the skeleton, insights are the flesh, but questions are the soul
• 💡 The value of a book lies not in what it says, but in what it answers

II. Universal Prompt Template

Complete Prompt Structure

You are a reader who can see through the soul of books.

=== Core Pursuit ===
Every book is the author's answer to some ultimate confusion. Your mission is to find the question that kept the author awake at night and compelled them to write the entire book to answer.

=== Exploration Method ===
- Who is the author's real conversation partner
- What key turn did this book make to the question
- Methodology is the skeleton, insights are the flesh, but questions are the soul
- The best books are multi-dimensional expansions of one question
- The value of a book lies not in what it says, but in what it answers

=== Value Guidance ===
- Seeing essence through phenomena > listing knowledge points
- Discovering connections > isolated understanding
- Extracting essence > comprehensive coverage
- Unspoken meaning > surface information

=== Hidden Door Code ===
All books have a "hidden door" - once opened, discover the hidden world within the book.

=== Constraints ===
Don't be constrained by constraints, let your mind be free.

Usage Method

Input Format:

{{Book Title}}

Example:

《Principles》

III. Practical Cases

Case 1: Analyzing "Principles"

Input: 《Principles》

AI Analysis Result:

• Core Question: How to establish repeatable success patterns in a complex world?
• Conversation Partner: Leaders and managers pursuing excellence
• Key Turn: From personal experience to systematic principles
• Hidden Door Discovery: Success is not accidental, but a replicable system

Case 2: Analyzing "Thinking, Fast and Slow"

Input: 《Thinking, Fast and Slow》

AI Analysis Result:

• Core Question: Why do humans always make irrational decisions?
• Conversation Partner: Rational thinkers who want to improve decision quality
• Key Turn: From rational assumptions to cognitive bias reality
• Hidden Door Discovery: Understanding cognitive mechanisms is key to improving decision quality

IV. Prompt Engineering Techniques Analysis

Technique 1: Role-Based Prompting

Principle: Let AI play the role of "reader who can see through the soul of books"

Effect: Improves the professionalism and depth of analysis

Technique 2: Structured Framework

Core Pursuit → Exploration Method → Value Guidance → Hidden Door Code

Advantages:

• Clear logic
• Distinct levels
• Easy to understand

Technique 3: Constraint-Based Prompting

Constraint: Don't be constrained by constraints, let your mind be free

Purpose: Encourage creative thinking and avoid rigid analysis

V. Advanced Application Techniques

Technique 1: Batch Analysis

Scenario: Analyzing the correlation between multiple books

Method:

Please analyze the correlation between the following three books using the above method:
1. 《Principles》
2. 《Thinking, Fast and Slow》
3. 《The Black Swan》

Focus on:
- The ultimate question that all three books answer together
- Their complementary relationships
- How to form a complete cognitive system

VI. Common Traps and Solutions

❌ Trap 1: Over-reliance on AI Analysis

Problem: Completely relying on AI, losing independent thinking ability

Solution: Use AI analysis as a starting point, combined with personal thinking

❌ Trap 2: Analysis Too Superficial

Problem: Staying at knowledge point listing, not discovering deep questions

Solution: Keep asking "why" until finding the root question

❌ Trap 3: Ignoring Practical Application

Problem: Only analyzing without applying, knowledge cannot be converted into ability

Solution: Every insight must be converted into specific action plans

VII. Tool Recommendations

1. AI Analysis Tools

• ChatGPT Plus (Recommended)
• Claude (Strong deep analysis capability)
• Gemini (Multi-angle thinking)

2. Auxiliary Tools

• Notion (Organizing analysis results)
• Obsidian (Building knowledge connections)
• MindMeister (Mind mapping)

VIII. Best Practices Summary

Master book analysis Prompt, remember these points:

1. ✨ Question-oriented > knowledge listing
2. 🔍 Deep mining > surface understanding
3. 🔗 Building connections > isolated analysis
4. 🎯 Practical application > paper talk
5. 🚀 Continuous iteration > perfect once

IX. Future Outlook

Development trends of book analysis Prompt:

• 🔮 Multi-modal analysis: Combining audio and video content
• 🤖 Personalized customization: Adjusting analysis angles based on personal interests
• 🌐 Knowledge graph: Building correlation networks between books

Summary

The core value of this Prompt Engineering technique lies in: transforming you from a passive reader to an active thinker.

Start practicing! Choose a book you've read recently, re-analyze it with this Prompt, and you'll discover a whole new world.

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What books have you analyzed with this Prompt? What interesting insights did you discover? Welcome to share in the comments! 💬

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This article was first published on Eric's AI Blog. Please indicate the source when reprinting.