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frahse · 04-25-2016, 06:11 PM

I disagree with the tenor of the article.

I became a speed reader as a child.

By the time I was 12, I could digest 3 or 4 books (about 200 pages each of fiction, autobio, historical etc.,) a day. I usually got 11 books every 3 days in the summer. My eyes suffered mightily and around 12, I had my first glasses for nearsightedness. They were -2 diopters. A year or 2 later, it was -4 diopters. The doctor said that he had never seen eyes progress so badly so fast. Well he never saw a reader like me.

When I went to the AFES (Armed Forces Examining Station - the old terminology) at Fort Jackson my right eye was tested at 20/400 and my left was "Light." Or course in those days with the draft, if you were able to find the door, they took you. Over the years my eye's accommodation has changed and I can pass the Highway Dept's requirement of 20/40 and even 20/30 on my right eye, with the left testing a little worse. During the same time period I have gone from able being to see a gnat's eye on my nose to having to use reading glasses.

Now those books were not TEXT books. Those took longer. Not to read so much as to comprehend and memorize.

I decided to test out how long I took in College. I think I read my Thermal Physics book in College 4 or 5 times to understand it, and then worked out problems as well.

I could carry on more about eyes, but I will only repeat what I have heard relating to baseball (if you read, you won't be able to hit the curve)

04-25-2016, 06:11 PM	#6
frahse occasional author Posts: 2,315 Karma: 2064403292 Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Wandering God's glorious hills, valleys and plains. Device: A Franklin BI (before Internet) was the first. I still have it.	I disagree with the tenor of the article. I became a speed reader as a child. By the time I was 12, I could digest 3 or 4 books (about 200 pages each of fiction, autobio, historical etc.,) a day. I usually got 11 books every 3 days in the summer. My eyes suffered mightily and around 12, I had my first glasses for nearsightedness. They were -2 diopters. A year or 2 later, it was -4 diopters. The doctor said that he had never seen eyes progress so badly so fast. Well he never saw a reader like me. When I went to the AFES (Armed Forces Examining Station - the old terminology) at Fort Jackson my right eye was tested at 20/400 and my left was "Light." Or course in those days with the draft, if you were able to find the door, they took you. Over the years my eye's accommodation has changed and I can pass the Highway Dept's requirement of 20/40 and even 20/30 on my right eye, with the left testing a little worse. During the same time period I have gone from able being to see a gnat's eye on my nose to having to use reading glasses. Now those books were not TEXT books. Those took longer. Not to read so much as to comprehend and memorize. I decided to test out how long I took in College. I think I read my Thermal Physics book in College 4 or 5 times to understand it, and then worked out problems as well. I could carry on more about eyes, but I will only repeat what I have heard relating to baseball (if you read, you won't be able to hit the curve) Last edited by frahse; 04-25-2016 at 07:56 PM.