Most speed reading books I've seen say that the average reader reads between 150-250wpm. For study/note taking reading it drops down to about 50wpm. The best reading speed that you can achieve while comprehending complex material (ie trying to speed read a physics book with no background in physics) is ~250-350wpm. I think speed reading goes with the belief that you don't really need to read every word to understand sentences just how most people don't read every letter to read a word, you just know what it is. It similar to that jumbled paragraph:
Quote:
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Arocdnicg to rsceearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn’t mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer are in the rghit pcale. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit pobelrm. Tihs is buseace the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.
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You can still read it at a fairly fast pace because the words are words that you know, when you are dealing with new material like studying an area you don't have an expertise in your reading speed needs to drop a lot to connect what is being read. If that sentence was describing DNA structure in detail or ingredients in your favorite candy it'd be harder to understand