Forums IMPORTANT: PLEASE READ PhotoReading, Memory Optimizer SuperReading, Mind Mapping, and Syntopic process

I have been assigned to write an essay on the Great Gatsby, a 189 page novel for my high school English class. The topic is "Does Fitzgerald depict time as an enemy of humans and humanity? If yes, explain how and why. If not, what is the nature of the relationship that he depicts between humans and time?" My teacher suggested that I do a single "skim" through the novel and note down important passages/quotes. She thought that this would probably be do-able in 40 minutes or so.

Having the skills of PhotoReading and Mind Mapping at my disposal, however, I figured that I'd be able to easily do the same thing 20 minutes. I have just spend over twenty minutes, however, and I'm only to page 60. Why? I feel like I did a pretty good job of constraining my dipping only to relevant passages. Did I superread too slowly? If so, how can I make myself go faster while still retaining the ability to spot important places to dip down? I think the Mind Mapping is slowing me down a bit, too. Changing colors, drawing lines, and capping and uncapping markers compared to just writing down regular notes single pen simply takes more time.

I find the Mind-Mapped end-result much more friendly, and the process more structurally logical and fun, however, even without taking the time to embellish with lots of little drawings.

Having gotten to page sixty, my Mind Map is not huge; I 9 page references, each with a keyword or two to trigger the meaning, context, and releance to my developing thematic analysis.

If I haven't even gotten past sixty pages in super reading/dipping a single book, how could I possibly do the syntopic process for a larger research project involving multiple sources? Sure it would be faster if I didn't Mind Map at the same time, but if I waited until after a first pass to Mind Map the relevant passages, I am not confident that I would be able to quickly remember, let alone find them all.

I am really looking forward to resolving these issues, thereby transforming the prospect of writing research/analytical essays from a time-consuming burden into a fun, quick and easy affair. Thus far, I am disappointed to say, this has not been my experience even though I think that I am following just about every PhotoReading rule mentioned in the book.

Hi CameronJ; how much time are you spending superreading per page is it 4 to 10 seconds a page? Maybe you could do the mindmapping later it seems like the mindmapping is slowing you down.
Photoread4me

Hi CameronJ; another idea. Maybe you could just write down pg 49, pg 129. The idea is you are not spending time phyically writing down the words while doing the mindmapping you are just going through the book really,really fast and when you see a page that you think is very important you write down pg 50 or whatever and once again i would say do the superreading first really fast then after multiple passes then i would try the mindmapping.
Photoread4me

Remember your purpose as you are activating.

Trust your mind more... if you start out with the question "Does Fitzgerald depict time as an enemy of humans and humanity?" allow yourself to open the book to the pages that confirm or deny it. There are probably only 2 or 3 places in the book that will do that clearly... so trust your inner mind to guide you there. You might just flip pages until you feel the urge to dip.

Mind mapping is cool but if you've already collected 9 points you probably have enough to explain how and why... or if not, then to show the relationship that he does depict.

So reflect on the question as you open pages here or there following your inner minds urging. You already know the answer to the question you just need to locate the information that backs you up for the teacher.

Alex

[This message has been edited by AlexK (edited February 29, 2004).]

Thank you, photoread4me and AlexK. Basically, I understand the theory of having my inner mind guide me to the write material -- it's just that I have not yet experienced it enough that my whole psyche believes it, I guess! Your posts help remind me to let go of those old ideas about reading, researching, remembering, and writing. The problem was that when I tried to be intuitively guided to the information I desired in the past, there were simply too many mixed emotions tied into it and school, so my intuition was blocked.

So the moral of the story is that in order to use PhotoReading most effectively, I need to detach from any possible outcomes emotionally, and from there, TRUST my inner mind's ability to deliver what I ask for. Why has this taken me so many months to walk this walk instead of just talking this talk? Was I not truly ready for PhotoReading before? I simply didn't get those amazing results immediately like so many people seem to have. Maybe I just had more emotional investment than I realized! Grades != self-worth. Boy is that an important one to remember. Paradoxically, I think that detaching from the outcome is the most important thing I can do in order to ensure the BEST possible outcome!

How ironic it all feels sometimes.

The essay is due Wednesday, and in order to get enough sleep, I'll simply continue as you have recommended tomorrow in order to write a rough draft by Tuesday. I have set such timelines for myself before, but they've never worked out. For a long time, it seems that every day I am awaiting a breakthrough and accomplish great school work in as little time as it would take in theory.

Thanks!
-Cameron

Another note:

Maybe it's my tendency to like to be very thorough that's been holding me back? That is probably why my normal reading speed was so bad, and the RapidReading speed at which I can absorb sequential material relaxedly is still not as high as I'd like it to be.

Is there some sort of plan I ought to create for myself to follow in order to improve my ability to activate, remember, and effectively use the knoweldge I've PhotoRead? I have not fully completed a 5-day plan on any book for pleasure, technically, so maybe would this be a worthwile use of my time? When I've activated knowledge from textbooks or novels for school, I've not yet gotten a distinct "gel" feeling, but I do have a sense of when I have most of the information I need.

As for inner-mind cues, I have PhotoRead a few novels slowly and compared impressions to content. For some its been better than for others, but all in all, the most convincing "evidence" I've had with PhotoReading has been my now quite frequent tendency to automatically turn to exactly or near exactly the page I "asked" my inner mind for. Unfortunately, at this point I can more easily read people's minds than I can tell you about a book or story that I've only PhotoRead. I really wonder what spontaneous activation feels like!

What's a sure-fire way for me to improve my PhotoReading abilities with a minimal daily time investment?

The sure fire way is to trust your inner mind to guide you to the right pages more and more. Play with that when activating this book.

Also set a timer at 10 or 15 minute incrememts that warns you that you need to speed up your superreading. Remember the principle of multiple passes.

Your question of wanting spontaneous activation brings an unusual suggestion... Image stream the answer to the questions the teacher asked of you. Draw the answer by image streaming first, it might give you better clues for where to look in the book. It can certainly help with developing trust for guidance from your inner mind.

Alex

Thank you, AlexK. I have resolved to devote at least 10 minutes to ImageStreaming every day anyhow. Do you think it will be effective also to ask something like "What is it most important for me to know now in order to perform optimally on the next test?" Or shall I leave them more focused for now so that I can bettter verify their answers?

Also, when might I want to use the High Think Tank method instead of just regular ImageStreaming?

I'll be doing the activation with a timer set, and I'll let you know how it goes :-) you think 10-15 minutes is the right amount for getting through an American history chapter, too? Or should this be less time since it'll be fewer pages? The information is fairly densely packed, so should my speed depend on this?

Thanks again!

-Cameron

Actually I would run an image stream holding that book to see if I can discover the answer. Then I'd expect to be able to find the answer faster in the book

Regular image streaming certainly has it's benefits trust your own intuition on what questions you can ask. If you think of it it's probably a good one to run a stream on in the present

On the American History text. Try the shortest time you think you need first. 10 minutes is a good start and reflect if you need more and check your questions and purpose again after that 10 minutes. Experimenting and using your intuition as a guide you'll discover the optimal time for you for most books rather quickly.

Alex

[This message has been edited by AlexK (edited March 01, 2004).]