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I asked "how" first because from my own experience I know that the first impression is important.



How isn't the only precision question. What about the other 5 Ws?

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Conversing with a book . . . after Matt's suggestion to see it as a conversation with the author I had made a major improvement in understanding PR but in the last two days when I activated books there was always a voice in my head that said: "Conversing with a book? Are you crazy? You can't converse with a book. It's lifeless. Just black ink on paper."



As a writer ... I'm not sure if it's disappointing or insulting to think that the message I, as an author want to impart, are perceived as lifeless and nothing more black pixels on a white screen. I regret that an author cannot write a book solely with your conversation in mind. We have to consider those who will actually read the message. And accept not all of our message might be read. But to be informed that our legacy is nothing more than "lifeless black ink" is sad.

One wonders why we should write. Fortunately there are those readers who can remember that there was a human who wrote what they are reading and are able to converse with the author, despite the fact that they may not have been the one to ask the questions that the author is answering in the first place



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How do I recognize that the author doesn't have the information I want?
If I have to superread the whole book or at least a chapter every time the advantage of PR to conventional reading will become irrelevant.



Not true. I've known people to reread chapters and sentences 5 to 10 times using conventional reading. The get stuck in one area like a wheel in a rut. Moving past to superread more of the passage helps you to find areas where the author has repeated the explanation in a different way.

Rephrase the question.

Isn't if funny how people who, when they realise that the person who doesn't understand the language very well, start SHOUTING? The same question over and over. Until someone else steps in and asks or explains in a different way?

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I read that some experienced PRers are able to ask themselve a question and then their sub-con leads them to exactly the line in the book that answers their question.



Yes I've been caught doing that often in my seminars. It is also a case of recognising that you have the answer. Beginners often dismiss it.

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But I assume that as long as my mind is not used to PR I won't be able to do this.



Wow. That's a self imposed limitation. Do you really want to live by that. Like I said be more flexible and notice more what you are getting.

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Alex wrote.. It's not easy to overcome....



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You are right.
Basically every step of PR demands you to be active.

Yes

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I've read that the brain prefers to work in routines as they are known to it and need less energy to process.



Incorrect, it doesn't take less energy to process routines. It's actually easier and faster using PhotoReading and the five steps that create the system. However it's Habits not the amount of time or energy something takes that keep people in a rut even when there are obvious better options. Habits can be productive or unproductive. Just because you read a book from beginning to end in the traditional fashion does not mean you've done anything productive with your time. If all the information that you need in the present moment can be obtained from a book in 10 minutes or less it's unproductive to spend 8 to 12 hours reading it from beginning to end. The way we learned to read in primary or elementary school is great for learning to read. Yet it is for an adult reader an unproductive habit. It would be perfect if every 13 year old started learned to PhotoRead in their first year of high school because that is when they are ready to remove the training wheels they had for learning to read.

Habits;

Why do people go back to re-read a sentence because they read it wrong?

Who told them they read it wrong? Their self.
Who knows they read it wrong? They do. No one else is in their head with them so it can only be their self.
Who knows already knows what the correct passage says? They do. Because to know it is wrong they must have recognised the passage the right way first.

So why do they go back and re-read it? Habit.

With PhotoReading you're developing a new strategy for reading. Habits like re-reading passages prove that you already have the cues for recognition working.

So just pay attention, be flexible.

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So it makes it hard to go against the routines, in the case of PR to overcome the learned laziness.



The way to break a habit is to create a new one. Yes it takes about 21 days.

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Alex wrote Just keep working with the book until it gels...



This is an important point.

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Since I read the PR book I am totally impatient. I want to get all the information of a book in 10 to 20 minutes. I completely ignore the fact that, if I read a 300-page book conventionally it takes about 6 hours.



Would you run in a 50k marathon tomorrow and expect to lead the pack, just because you bought running shoes yesterday?

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On the other hand for the first three steps of PR I need approximately 15, maybe 20 minutes. Depends on how long I need to relax.



Wasting time mate. It takes 2 to 5 minutes for a beginner and 30 seconds or just doing the prepare (ideal state and purpose) along with a couple of deep breaths for the experienced.

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If I add this to your 2 hours 40 minutes I would need only half the time as usually with a much higher comprehension due to the active and purposeful approach to the book.



Yep the comprehension is higher. People often re-read chapters and even whole books because their comprehension is poor. Add that time to traditional reading and you might only be spending 1/5th the time with PhotoReading the time.

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But going multiple times through a book . . . I know that I will be faster with PR but my mind tells me that I will be slower.



Isn't it amazing how the mind can defy logic? Earlier you were saying you wanted to get it done in 20 minutes. You know you can get books done in 5 to 20 minutes? - Just depends on your purpose for reading the book.

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t seems that it takes the time I would need to read a book conventionally with the number of activation layers and then comes to the result that I need 6 to 8 times more time to get the information out of the book.



Since most people don't sit and read non-fiction books in one sitting. Doing it in layers with a purpose in mind isn't really any different.

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One should think that your brain works for you. It does but sometimes you have to constantly force it to do so.



It works perfectly for you. It is as you believe. Just notice your self talk and if you see what I do you'll see why you are having problems.

You're simply wanting to short cut the steps and are a tad inflexible because all you need to do is follow the steps. Like when you play tennis. You cannot wait on one side of the court for the ball to come to you. You have to move to where the ball is. The game has a routine.

If you're not a tennis fan think of a video game. Amazing how much time gamers will spend starting over the same level just to beat it to get to the next level. But that's Flexibility. If you just turn on the game and let your avatar stand there and wait for the play to come at you there's no point in playing.

Do the Star of Wonder exercise again and if you're learning from the book alone check that you haven't made rules where there are none.

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So often the beginning PhotoReader short changes themselves by quitting too soon.



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I won't. But I have to be more patient.
At the beginning I had the mind-set: "I have read the PR book and now it's my brains job to use the system."



A rule that you created that your "brain" doesn't agree with. It wants the whole of you to be part of the process.

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Yep the first layers don't feel like you're getting much if anything.



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Good to know.



Glad you appreciate that. Most people are not even into the third chapter of a book in the same time of a first activation layer.

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Alex Wrote If you search the forum you'll find my experiment where I gave a detailed report of my experience with a number of activation layers. My user name was AlexK.



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I'll read it.



Please do. You'll notice I went through the experience and wonder of being a beginner again in that challenge. What it took for me to get through to the end of the book.

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I have to thank you again for taking the time and being responsive to my questions. You probably answered questions about every step of PR dozens of times.


If only it were so few I think I've rewritten the book about 4 times

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I want you to know that I appreciate your effort and patience.



Thank you. It's nice to be told from time to time.

AlexK