Chaos,

I had a look at the amazon review you posted.

"The entire PhotoReading step could probably be skipped with no effect whatsoever on the outcome - except that you would arrive there faster. "

This is not my experience.

"I believe the real purpose of the PhotoReading step is to make the reader feel he has permission to claim he has read what he in fact has not read. "

Maybe.
--
You know, I don’t know how a lot of things work. I’m a generalist. I don’t care to know how things are put together. I don’t want to understand the inner workings of my computer... I want to use it. When I look at a thing or an idea, I ask, ‘how can this serve me?’ There’s nothing more annoying to me than mathematical proofs. I just wanna USE the damn theorems, you know?...a functional mindset.

Pragmatism is my favorite word in the English language. I live and die by this word. As brief as I can get: A thing is good or bad depending on whether or not it brings you closer to your goals. My goal is to read faster. Photoreading moves me toward that goal at relatively little cost. Therefore it is a good thing.

Pragmatists generally don’t care about inductive proofs or studies. They are after results. Outcomes. Maybe the photoreading step does nothing more than give me the permission to skip over filler. Let’s say that’s the only thing that’s going on. Okay. So there’s no subconscious input, no preconscious processing, no nothing. I’m just staring at pages and phantomreading. Everything Paul has said about ‘whole-brain’ learning is a sham. Falsehoods. We’re all being lied to.

Let’s say that is the case. My question to you is, does it matter?

The result is still the same. I read twice as fast as I did 5 months ago when I first started. I attribute the speed increase to sleeping after the photoreading step and binaural beats.

It’s like prayer for a Christian. Is a man really praying to a personified God with ears who listens to his every word and sometimes grants his wishes? Maybe, maybe not. Who knows? What matters is the RESULT. As a result of praying to God to help me on my next exam and as a result of believing that he is there with me as I take the test, guiding my pen, I perform better. My grade is higher. I may have deluded myself, possibly. But who cares? The delusion has served me-—moved me toward my goal. Therefore, it is a good thing. Proofs and logic be damned.

Even if your contentions are true and photoreading is a six pack of lies (and it may be), I have effectively HALVED my reading time. There is no getting around this fact. I have HALVED my reading time while maintaining comprehension. That is the result. That is what I was after. Was it worth 250 bucks? Hell yes!

Pragmatically speaking, results are all that matter...Whole-brained reading, half-brained reading, quarter-brained reading, penis-brained reading, nose reading... it doesn’t matter. I would do a reading dance if it meant I could read twice as fast. I would sacrifice a squirrel to the Gods. I would hold rabbits foot in my left hand. I would wear a dunce cap. I would paint my forehead green. And yes... I would even stare through pages as I flipped them one every second.

Results, Chaos, results.

In sum,

Q:“What do I want?”
A:“To Read books faster.”
Q:“Has the photoreading program moved me toward that goal?”
A:“An unqualified yes. I read twice as fast with same comprehension.”
Q:“Was it worth the 250 dollars.”
A:“I judge..yes.”
Q:“Does it matter if the system is based on lies?”
A:“I’m after results, no.”