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Speed Reading?

Posted by michael on from the slow-down-cowboy dept.

Chacham writes "Anyone here have success with Speed Reading? I've seen complaints about less comprehension, that it is uncomfortable, and that it's just plain hard to do. I've also seen people say it is invaluable. What are your experiences? I am particularly interested about reading technical resources, but I am curious overall as well." We've actually asked this before, but it's been three years, might as well take a second look at it.

2 of 68 comments (clear)

  1. The straight dope about speed reading by Ilari · · Score: 5, Informative

    You might want to read The Straight Dope about speed reading...

  2. Computerized speed reading by JMemmert · · Score: 5, Informative
    I read very fast in everyday life... somewhere between 300 and 400 words per minute, I'd guess, with a rate of recall of about 90% for a day and still 60% after a week (Yes, I have a good memory).

    Recently, I tried out GnomeRSVP to find out what that is all about...
    Much to my surprise, I must say that, for texts which are available on the computer, it is a very convenient and fast tool to quickly absorb huge amounts of text.
    I can read somewhere around 1000 to 1200 words per minute and remember about 90% of it for about 12 hours.
    That is more than enough if you have to get a quick overview about a subject.
    It is not enough to write a paper about a specific topic as you loose most abbreviations or references to other texts. You also can't really enjoy the experience.
    I ran a test and held a talk about a topic I know exactly nothing about, just based on the texts I read... and my recall was comprehensive and precise.
    After 12 hours, the rate of recall was down to about 60% though... so, in my case, the data is not permanently absorbed, as the context is lost and I can't recall longer paragraphs as a whole...