This is my view on it:
He says 3x faster in some parts, but he is always very careful to say "photoread" at 25,000 wpm. Photoreading is completely different from regular reading, so it's not like he's advertizing a 20ghz computer and only guaranteeing it for 500 mhz. It's more like telling someone who's new with computers (ie - won't get the difference) that the computer he's about to buy is three times faster than what he has now, and is capable of 20 gigs (but referring to the hard drive). It's not lying, but to anyone who doesn't know the terminology, it's not very clear either.
The 3x increase is for beginners. After practice, you get faster than 3x. Right now, I'm experimenting with getting a book that would have taken me 10 hours, and using the system to get it under 45 minutes. I should be fine, and I broke down the process in another thread. I will update on how that one goes.
Light, you seem like an intelligent person, but I don't think you understand how the system works, so I'll give you a brief rundown. I say this because it seems that you feel the concept is much more "inconceivable" than it really is. It's actually pretty simple, has drawbacks, and anyone can learn it if they practice.
One problem with the name Photoreading is that "photoreading" is really just a step in the "Photoreading: Whole Mind System" process. So, from herein, the step will be referred to as PRing, while the system will be referred to as "the system".
1 - Preview the book - This step is a good step, but it's the reason some people claim that PRing is just a novelty step that doesn't work; they never actually TRIED that, and the people who have can tell you that the PR step is vital to the system. Previewing is basically looking at any chapter names, writing down anything in bold or anything that stands out to you (by the end, you only have a list of about 20 words, so this isn't extensive). This helps you generate a purpose, discussed later.
2 - PR the book (this is the 25,000 wpm thing) - This stores the book into your subconcious, and you won't consciously know anything you just read. This works on the same concept as subliminal ads and things like that.
3 - State a purpose - This is also key, because it's the connection between your concious and subconscious. You basically tell your subconscious that you want to ONLY find such and such. For example, in a book about hamsters, you might state "I'd like to know what a hamster's basic daily needs are."
4 - Activation - THIS is where everything comes together. You go through the book at a speed that looks like your skimming (you're not even really reading), and your subconscious, in the form of intuition, willgive you the "feeling" to stop skimming and read the paragraph you're on. This is the part that actually takes practice - developing the sense to interpret your subconscious correctly. This is where the scientific research from NLP, cognitive research, etc. was for. This connection exists, and in the system it's used as a filter. The point is that your subconscious processes more bits than the conscious, and can actually store all the info, but the conscious is the only place where it really means anything.
5 - State a different purpose, activate again with that purpose, and repeat until what you need from the book is complete.
Okay, now this is where questions come up:
1 - How do you know what purpose to state? - The previewing step helps with this, but really, you can always state the purpose, "I want to understand all the concepts in this book".
2 - Doesn't this mean you "skip" things? YES, and this is why the system isn't as impressive as you probably think it is. There's nothing wrong with skipping in most cases, because only 4 - 11% of a text is actually needed. When you read a book about anything, there are the things that are important you'll remember anyway (4-11%) and the things that aren't really important that you forget (most of the text). In a book about running (I regular read this one) I remembered all the points about improving my form, advice on equipment, even the section on pieces of a shoe, but if you ask me what marathons the author participated in, his wife's name, where he came up with some system of his, what equipment he personally owns (he said a lot) or any actual date in that book, you'll get a shoulder shrug from me.
The system takes advantage of that, and using a purpose and the subconscious as a storage and filter, you only consciously read what's important, and that's why you save time. Andy, a former poster on this board, pointed out that if you read the book "Alive" you'll know the plot of the book, and probably the names of everybody, but you won't know what they did with their sunglasses.
Some might argue, "hey, that could be important!" Of course it can be. But for MOST books out right now that isn't fiction, the activation method stated above works FINE, and with practice, you'll figure out creative purposes to state to using it correctly. For those less adventurous, or for books where you "have to know everything" there's a rapid reading activation instead, which by itself is better than speedreading (I've completed speedreading courses; this is much better).
I know this is long, but there should be some key points:
1) Pete never states you will read at 25,000 wpm. He uses the word photoread, which may be misleading, but it's VERY different. He does use the word 3x faster, but this will increase with practice.
2) The system is much less complex than it sounds. It doesn't take specially gifted individuals or a photographic memory, and you don't read everything in the book. It's a given, although it's not much to give up in most books. If you can't give it up, there's rapid reading.
3) Two "studies" against the system may be significant, but if you look at the forum you'll find the studies you said PRing lacks, if you do a search for "abstracts" and "photoreading" through the forum.
Thanks for taking the time to read the post. It should answer most of your questions.
-Ramon http://razor.ramon.com
