quote:
Originally posted by demon386:
Alex,What's your answer?I want to know your opinion about speedreading and photoreading

Speed reading and PhotoReading are two different things perhaps opposites.

Speed reading is about pushing the eyeball faster across the page. It tries to be a one size fits all type of reading. It assumes you will always get the same level of comprehension from all writing. It takes constant practice and if you stop doing it for extended periods you need to start training again.

I found that I was not alone with my experience with speed reading. My reading comprehension speed was drasticlly slower after learning speed reading. Where I was reading at about 380 wpm naturally before learning speed reading my experience was lest than satisfactory and comprehension suffered, afterward my speed was 240wpm. I never managed to regain my pre speed reading speed until I learned PhotoReading.


With PhotoReading we take the opposite approach. We take in the information at the fastest possible pace first and then slow down and build our knowledge in layers. The overall effect is similar to driving along a freeway at high speed and then being forced to slow down 50%. We star fast and the mind has taken in the information but it's slow to com into consciousness and the wondering mind likes to forget quickly that we want it conscious. We go through it again at spdees faster than speed reading. Building up our conscious awareness in layers. We continue until we have reached the level of conscious awareness that we desire. Even though we have many layers it winds up faster.

If we want to have deep comprehension on a analytical level the reading average is 70 yo 90wpm. We often find ourselves reading passages 3 or 4 times to understand them. While our reading speed may be 90 WPM if we read a passage for the third time we have technically reduced out speed to 30WPM. Funny thing is we don't realise we are building our understanding in layers. 3 passes over some passages.

Rather than starting with the slowest speed first PhotoReading starts with the fastest. For some subjects that's all the conscious comprehension we need from a book right then.
Even if you need analytically read something it makes sense to apply the PhotoReading since your mind builds understanding in layers anyway.

It becomes easier to read at the pace of 540 to 600 wpm. The pace, math says, your 7 plus or minus 2 bits of information per second conscious mind should be capable of. Because we start fast and slow down.

Alex