The Truth About Speed Reading

[tompe]

Originally Posted by crich70

But you do need to retain the information contained in the formula's even if it's as simple as 2 *2 =4 or 4/2=2 .

Well, no. You of course need to learn some basic things. But most formulas are just convenient short-cuts that you can derive in 30 seconds or so. At least that was true for most of the math courses at University level. Of course you have to understand the basic principles and how to use them. But the amount of details you have to learn by rote learning is not so big.

[Grace Elliot]

When reading fiction a lot of the pleasure is in savouring the language and noticing details as the plot unwinds. I can speed read and sometimes resort to it if I have a book to review, but when reading for pleasure I take as long as the book deserves.
As for non-fiction, a wise person once pointed out to me that the first sentence of each paragraph tells you what that part is about. Hence, it's easy to skim NF for relevant information.

[pdurrant]

An interesting article - thanks for posting it. I shall be content with my 350-400wpm reading speed.

[Jane Oldaker]

I cannot read informationally dense, arcane material (e.g., the income tax act) without putting my pencil to the page and following word for word. My eyes, or perhaps just a better part of me, skip words all over the place otherwise. The necessity of doing so almost finished off my desire to read for pleasure altogether. It's slow. So I wonder, can the speed readers zoom through stuff like that? Does the rate of decay of comprehension increase? Pure, idle curiosity on my part.

On another note - Grace Elliot I like your big fat cat!

[piper28]

Ah, Keith Rayner, yup, definitely a name I remember.

[Antoinekamel]

Sum: Speed reading does not exist, unless you understand it as Skip Reading. If you speed read and understand everything, it's because you already knew that, or it was unvealed in your mind by subconscious means.

Just summarized the study, not expressing my agreement.

[Lin2412]

Originally Posted by Grace Elliot

When reading fiction a lot of the pleasure is in savouring the language and noticing details as the plot unwinds. I can speed read and sometimes resort to it if I have a book to review, but when reading for pleasure I take as long as the book deserves.
As for non-fiction, a wise person once pointed out to me that the first sentence of each paragraph tells you what that part is about. Hence, it's easy to skim NF for relevant information.

Exactly! I think if the book or series is so compelling, it wouldn't hurt if it could take me weeks before I finish a series. It's like eating so fast you won't be able to savor the taste and goodness.

I was insanely curious with the prospect of speed-reading though. I still think that to some extent, it does help you comprehend more and save more time because you won't be able to be distracted of repeating the same word over and over again in a sentence.

[please55]

I would disagree with the premise and argue that speed reading is simply different from what most people think of it as.

Most understand it as the concept of increasing "speed" or "wpm". True speed readers are a different breed and use altogether different techniques rather than just pure visual analytical methods. In many ways you rewire the way you literally read the text into a wholly different systems from the way you grow up learning how to read.

[Nabeel]

One against-the-current point: what about layout? Decades ago, a very dedicated graphic designer told me that fonts with serifs aid the eye to follow the line, while sans-serif points are more difficult to comprehend, even if they look nicer.

This type of skill - the really careful, dedicated composition of a page of type, as Gutenberg and Caxton initiated - has been pushed to one side by the digitalisation of type.

But thank you for posting the article with the working link! Definitely worth reading (slowly).

[Fluribus]

Some of the speed reading stuff that I've looked at required pre-reading. If they included that reading into their calculations, I wonder what their WPM scores would be.

[Joykins]

Originally Posted by Ninjalawyer

Yeah. I'm a college graduate and I tend to go at quite a clip when reading for pleasure, but when reading the classics (I was a lit major) I had to FORCE myself to slow down to aid comprehension. For a while there I had to read out loud so I could go slow enough.

Reading fast is a mixed bag, really.

[Jack Torrance]

Originally Posted by Jane Oldaker

I cannot read informationally dense, arcane material (e.g., the income tax act)

The people that wrote the tax code should be shot.

[Nancy Fulda]

Originally Posted by Jack Torrance

The people that wrote the tax code should be shot.

Naw, the people you're mad at are the ones who created the tax laws. The poor suckers who had to compile that self-contradictory behemoth into a comprehensive and internally consistent manuscript deserve nothing but the utmost pity.

[Lin2412]

Originally Posted by Joykins

Yeah. I'm a college graduate and I tend to go at quite a clip when reading for pleasure, but when reading the classics (I was a lit major) I had to FORCE myself to slow down to aid comprehension. For a while there I had to read out loud so I could go slow enough.

Reading fast is a mixed bag, really.

Mixed, it surely is. I wanted speed reading for time management usually. I haven't gotten around to learn it, but I have heard of people who have had classes and how they improved a lot, especially in checking their e-mails and responding to reports.

[Salgueiros]

So speed reading is not reading some of the text. Nothing we didn't know already...