The idea of being able to get all the information out of a book in say 3 hours instead of 9 hours appeals to many. This is only the starting point in the PhotoReading Whole Mind System.
When you go through the home study course at the end of it you will have the same or better comprehension of your reading material in 1/3 the time. After your first pass through the course. This is done through multiple activation passes and often it is surprising how much faster still you gather the information. Use the system on all your reading material daily and you find you get faster still. It really is up to you.
quote:
If I could master speedreading I would be able to “suck” information much faster than that..
Actually no. At best speed reading course manage to push your reading speed to about 600 to 800 words per minute after that reading becomes skimming. You skip words that are on the page. In the case of speed reading if you fail to practice daily you find that your actual reading speed drops until you've practiced again.
Photoreading does help you develop your reading speed also. However the starting point - without greatly changing your regular reading habit - you can absorb the information from a 75,000 word book in 3 to 4 minutes and have the same or better conscious comprehension in 2 hours or less. In effect reading 3 times as fast yet on testing your average reading speed can remain the same. (The point is; it isn't about how fast you can 'read' - it's about how fast you can collect the information you need from the text!)
This is in effect moving 'your' average reading speed (200 words per minute) to the 625 word per minute bracket. Since you have already absorbed the information you are not skipping words when you rapid read. You find that there is no need to read and safely skim over on what you already know and slowing down when you want to 'read' for more conscious detail.
As your confidence in your body mind connection builds you actually develop a minimum reading speed of about 500 to 600 words per minute. Yet if you use the system daily there comes a point when you finish and know everything you want to know from a 75,000 word book in less than 1 hour (1 hour being the equivalent of reading 1250 wpm). That is a relatively small book of about 200 pages. Experienced photoreaders are capable of managing books of 600 pages in an hour or less. It naturally depends on what you want out of the book.
Another thing often overlooked with speed reading. While some speed readers may be able to skim at 1000 words per minute. Often they repeat the process on a book 2 to 3 times on material when studying, because the conscious mind can only hold 7 plus or minus 2 bits of information and it forgets what it read moments before. Thus reducing their actual speed to 500 words per minute or same as average (if they only skimmed 3 times).
The PhotoReading Whole Mind System isn't just about speed it is also about tactics of acknowledging the conscious minds habit of forgetting and bringing into use many skills that improve conscious comprehension. It acknowledges the fact that the fact that the conscious mind forgets. Using a system of setting your purpose and time frames to get the information gathering done faster.
Alex
[This message has been edited by AlexK (edited May 18, 2003).]
