quote:
Originally posted by Gianny:
Sure, it's frustating anyway... activation looks like a time waste, since your recall is not very satisfing. 
Activation is done in 20 to 30 minute sessions the first one or 2 for the book seem difficult. The trick is to keep going with it move past the inital point of frustration. Whatever information you collect from your first 'layer' of activation it is best to record it on a mind map. For example your book on Italy one of your objectives was to know more about the consitution. For an activation session I would concentrate on that. Superreading and Dipping for anything that relates to information about the consitution. You might start with the table of content and decide which chapters you feel you might find this information in. Go to those parts of the book and look for information that is new to you about the consitution. Your recall improves with each activation layer and addtion to mind map. The thing is to form questions and keep them in mind while superreading they help you to find and thus recall the information.
quote:
One of my mistakes is probably that I don't catch well the difference between Super Reading and Rapid Reading. Apparently, both seem identical to me (but obviously they are not). Ok, I know..the book already has a section about how one method differ from the other. But the book simply says that they are different in speed. The book don't say HOW "phisically" the two methods differ. So in what they are different?
Superreading is reading so fast that for the most part your are scanning the text letting your eyes catch the important information where you feel that you should dip for a closer read. Looking for things of interest.
Rapid Reading is your regular reading faster than normally do in some areas (speed reading) and your regular speed in others. It varies according to how important the text is to you at those points.
quote:
Regarding Super Reading, the book says to scroll down to the center of the page looking for some sentences (and read them normally). Does this mean that I should "fix" the eyesight directly to the center of the page/lines and "scroll" my view directly down the page, without moving the eyeballs from side to side (left to right) as in regular reading? If this is true, so how Rapid Reading is done? Moving the eyeballs from side to side very fast? That seems the normal speed reading..
The scrolling down the page with the eyes fixed down the center is one method of superreading. Another is to skitter. This is mostly a method you devise for yourself for searching the text for important information. This could be an S scan, zig zag down the page, Scroll up or scroll down with a S scan for flourish 
.
I think of superreading as a timed treasure hunt. Seeing how many of my questions I can get answered in the 20 to 30 minute activation session. I avoid 'reading' too much. If something I notice during dipping raises another question I make a note of it and keep looking for the answers I originally am superreading for. Once I found them I go back and look at the new question that came up. Either within the current activation session or the next one.
Rapid reading is reserved for books that you really want to spend some time with getting it all.
For your first book (400 pages) you can expect to need 5 activation sessions spending a total of 2 to 3 hours (I'm guessing that it would take you at least 6 to 9 hours just to sit and read it by the regular method.)
quote:
Oh well, I will catch up everything someday. I have some doubts about making the mind probing question, but I want to clarify one step at time.Thanks for any advice.
Asking good questions is one way to kick start the activation. Look at your trigger words, look at your purpose for PRing the book. For example; What is Italy's constitution? When was it written? How does it affect the citizens? Where is the constitution recorded. Why does it have a constitution? Who wrote the constitution? Write the question you want answered onto your mind map. Then search the book for the answers. With superreading you're looking for answers flipping backward and forward through the pages fast.
With rapid reading you read the book from beginning to end at the fastest pace you can/want varying according to the information that is presented to you. Fast, sometimes faster than speed reading (yes, superreading even) through stuff you are already familar with and your regular reading pace for stuff that is new to you. (Your regular reading pace increases with practice too )
Alex
[This message has been edited by AlexK (edited September 08, 2002).]
