So I've had a lot of experience with hypnosis over the last few years and my knowledge of it sparked a simple thought about memory and perseverance that I think some of you will benefit from.

Memory is a tricky subject when it comes to perception. As a hypnotist (who frequently, for entertainment, temporarily alters memories) I often give a suggestion that I will tell a deeply hypnotized subject that I will snap my fingers twice, and that the period of time between the snaps will disappear from memory. The reason this can be entertaining is because when the subj. doesn't remember something, to them it did not happen. They become confused when I snap once and ask them to walk to the other side of the room and then snap again. If I snap and hand them an object and snap again it seems as if the object instantly appears.

Now how is this relevant? All of us (by nature of understanding this post) have learned to read. But I ask you...how many of you remember doing it? Almost 0. Perhaps you remember a favorite story. You remember sound out a few difficult words. But the memory is essentially gone from your consciousness. What I mean is, to you the ability to read seemed to have appeared suddenly. (In the frame of reference of your entire lives). You have forgotten just how many hours you had work and work and work with someone who knew.

How is this applicable? The original process of learning to read was painstaking and long. You had to stare at a strange set of 26 (or more) of these odd symbols and try and try to figure out what they meant. But what happened in the end? You mastered the process, and made it happen in your NONconscious mind. How many of the words that you read right now do you look at and r-e-a-d every s-i-n-g-l-e letter?

None. The subvocalization instantly happens in your mind.

My simple insight is this. Both learning to read and learning to photoread are processes of taking a system of transference of information (i.e. THE system we all use, and the system of a's, b's, c's, and "."s and "?" (heck even " 's)) and working and working until you can do it all subconsciously.

So I ask this, of all of you who are struggling with learning to photoread, simply remember. Do not take for granted the hard work you had to do to learn to read. Persist! Consult the forums and your peers and teachers. You will get there in time.


All the best,

~CharlieG