Forums IMPORTANT: PLEASE READ PhotoReading, Memory Optimizer In need of motivation

Hi, I am new to this site, and having recently purchased abook by paul r scheele I was very interested in this 'photo reading' and that lead me to this forum.

At a first glance through the book, I was almost convinced photo reading at a rate of 25000 wpm + was possible. As a 15 year old high school student, I was eager to learn such a skill, as no doubt a method like this would be a great aid in my revision for important exams.

BUT - the next day I was feeling a little sceptical, and decided to see what Wikipedia, normally a reliable source of information, had to say about it. (See here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photoreading ) Now I am really regretting I did, because it has completely destroyed any hopes I had that photo reading was real and possible.

So basically I need some motivation, not from people THINK they know it works, but from people who KNOW it works because they use it themselves.

Kind regards,

Kaze

Kaze:

I am still not convinced the program works, but if you can get a hold of the DVDs from the deluxe course they are quite motivational. They def. to help reinforce what the program does and allows for you to see others getting great results from the program A few personal development people also love the program, one such is steve pavlina www.stevepavlina.com. Reading through the forums on here is a good approach to stay motivated as well.

Granted I am going off of the home program, I have found success with the dictionary exercise as well as a few other exercises.

It is easy to be skeptical at first, but give yourself about a month of going through the program and decide for yourself at that point.

As a side note, the wikipedia article did not seem to have any hard evidence for OR against the photoreading program. I would lean in the direction of cautious optimism with the program. It could very well work, but you have to get past your own fears/impatience, and whatever else could be stopping you from opening up to this program.

Best of Luck!

Dear Kaze,

I have read your post and I will share my experience with you. I have done the course almost an year ago and I had improved in many ways. I have achieved two important goals for me. I have finally got my degree (I am a doctor). I had an exam last year that took me almost three hours. It was a medical examination and I promote it. Also I did an annual course of Familiar Medicine and I took a very good as a result.

Photoreading gave me an strategy to improve my learning and confidence. I turn to be more productive and above all I enjoyed it a lot.

An important thing is to know clearly your beliefs. What Photoreading taught me is that I have a great potential and depend on me to develop it. I think it is very important to be patient and not demand a lot to your self.

I think it will be very helpful to read frequently this forum. I have learnt a lot from it.

The practice make the master.

Good luck.

MatiasT

To Matius,

Sorry but I am not sure I understand you fully, you said that it gave you a strategy to improve your learning and confidence, but did it actually work? I mean can you actually photo read books and stuff at 25000 words + whatever with proper comprehension?

Regards, Kaze

Hi.

You cannot read at 25,000 words a minute.It states that very clearly in the Photoreading book.

What the creator of Photoreading & the company Learning Strategies Corporation guarantees is that you will be able to read & comprend 3 times faster than your current reading rate. If it takes you 10 to 12 hours to read a 300 page book they guarantee you will be able to go through the same book in 3 or 4 hours instead of 10 to 12 hours.

If it takes you 90 hours to go through a extremely complicated textbook they guarantee you will be able to do the same textbook in 30 hours instead of 90 hours.

The 3 times faster can increase. The more you do it the more it will increase.Once again understand you are not reading when Photoreading you are simply changing your field of vision your peripheral vision to expose the information from the book to the other than conscious mind.

Remember the conscious mind can attend to 6 to 9 bits of information at the same time not 25,000 bits of information.

Photoread4me

Sorry please delete this post.

Photoreading will definitely help you in your studies. The advantage of photoreading is that you are involving the other than conscious mind & the conscious mind. Do you remember in one of Tony Buzan books he talks about reading & how when walking a path in a field the first time might be more difficult but then with more subsquent passes the path gets easier & easier to go over. The same principle applies to photoreading. Layers, layers, layers. Let me repeat that it's all about layers. You don't have to get it all everything on the very first pass.

Let me share with you about one of the people i consider a photoreading heavyweight. This man used photoreading to help him in his studies with physics, calculus & other complex subjects. No more studying until 100am in the morning for him. Photoreading definitely helped him in his studies of calculus & physics.

You can do the same thing as well. God has given you this incredible, amazing human brain. The only limits are the ones that you put on yourself.You can do just about anything you set your mind to.

There is work involved. You still have to study & you still have to put the time in. There are no free lunches. There are no magical formulas. Photoreading will definitely help you in your studies.

About how can i be so sure regarding reading 25,000 words a minute & the conscious mind attending to 6 to 9 bits of information? Try attending to 6 things at the same time then 20,50, 100, 500, 1,000 thing going on at the same time. Do you get my point? Think about that. Our conscious minds are not really designed to handle 500 things going on at the same time much less 25,000 things going on at the same time.

I have read many posts in the past on this forum where people are looking for a way to not have to work in regards to studying. Just microwave it. Zap put it in the microwave it's ready in 15 seconds. I don't have to work, i don't have to expend any effort. It just does not work that way.

The wonderful advantage of Photoreading is that you involve the other than conscious mind as well as the conscious mind. Other speed reading techniques do not involve that.

Photoread4me

To photoread4me:
Paul does mention spontanous activation for photoreading. In effect, if you photoread and achieve spontanous activation, isn't that equivalent to reading at 25,000 wpm?

To KazeKage:
I was also attracted by the 25,000 wpm promise, and to be honest, I had yet to achieve spontanous activation, nor do I get dreams about things that I photoread. (Actually, I hardly dream these days...)

But what I do notice is that my reading speed has improved. Several reading bad habits are automatically addressed by this system, and it helps improve concentration when reading. Those in itself have helped me with my reading and shorten my reading time. I'm still practicing to improve my skill.

There's no need to feel discourage even if you feel that you can't hit 25,000wpm. Just think of how much more value you have when you cut your reading time by half, or a third. Is that good enough for you?


Just my 2 cents worth.

Thank you all very much, I am learning a great deal.

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(Actually, I hardly dream these days...)

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I'm sure you do, only you don't recall them =D

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Just think of how much more value you have when you cut your reading time by half, or a third. Is that good enough for you?

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Actually, that just isn't good enough for me; Being a speed reader I have already reached those speeds and much more - but the faster I get the more hungry I am for more - which is why reading at 25000wpm would be my next target. Maybe I have expected to much of the human brain's capabilities

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But what I do notice is that my reading speed has improved. Several reading bad habits are automatically addressed by this system, and it helps improve concentration when reading. Those in itself have helped me with my reading and shorten my reading time. I'm still practicing to improve my skill.

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You notice this improvement because you have learnt the basics of speed reading - not photoreading - many typical speed reading courses will deliver the same results. Much of it is just common sense, like previewing, reading, and reviewing, avoiding regression by pacing, using a metronome, eliminating sub-vocalization, chunking, mind mapping, as well as carrying a purpose for greater concentration - the list goes on. But what I want to know is 'why do I need to learn photoreading as apposed to simply improving my speed reading on a conscious level. As photoread4me has rightly pointed out, it involves the subconscious mind in addition to conscious, which would be an aid to my studies - so that's a good reason I guess.

Kind regards, Kaze