Forums IMPORTANT: PLEASE READ PhotoReading, Memory Optimizer Preparing/activating & asking questions

Hi everyone,
I'm new to PhotoReading and have a question about the processes of preparing and activating. In an earlier post, Pete made these comments:

"But, more importantly, you must have a purpose. Otherwise, why read a book? You need to know why you are reading the book. What do you hope to gain from it? What do you want to accomplish as a result of learning the information in the book? Are you looking for specific pieces of information?"

What if the only reason you are reading the book is because the topic interested you and you picked it up from the shelf in the bookstore because it sounded interesting? What if your only desired result is "to read something that may potentially be interesting"? I often pick up books covering the topics of consciousness, the mind, spirituality, philosophy, etc., simply because I find those areas of study intriguing. I don't read each book with specific questions in mind, I read the books because I enjoy reading and learning new things about various topics. If I were to answer Pete's questions listed above in regard to the book I'm currently reading ("No Boundary" by Ken Wilber), it would appear something like this:

Pete's comments: "But, more importantly, you must have a purpose. Otherwise, why read a book? You need to know why you are reading the book."

My response would be: I'm reading the book because I've always enjoyed reading and because the topic is of general interest to me. My purpose is simply to be exposed to new ideas.

Pete's comments: "What do you hope to gain from it?"

My response would be: I have no idea, that's why I'm reading the book in the first place. At this point, the only thing I hope to gain is to be presented with new ideas that haven't already been rehashed by dozens of contemporary philosophers.

Pete's comments: "What do you want to accomplish as a result of learning the information in the book?

My response would be: To be more knowledgable about the author's ideas on merging Eastern/Western approaches to personal growth and spirituality. (i.e., to learn more about the author's views on the topic covered in the book)

Pete's comments: "Are you looking for specific pieces of information?"

My response would be: Not really, I'm just looking to learn new things and be exposed to new ideas.

Does everyone see where this is leading? Is there a point to PhotoReading this book if I don't have specific questions or goals other than to enjoy reading a book that was recommended to me by many friends? How do you formulate specific questions when you don't necessarily have any specific questions? The entire book is about merging Eastern/Western approaches to personal growth and spirituality. If I prepare for my PhotoReading session by indicating "I want to learn more about merging Eastern/Western approaches to personal growth and spirituality", I'll be superreading and dipping into the entire book later, not just a few pages scattered throughout the book, so why should I PhotoRead it rather than simply read it the typical way? In other words, if I don't have specific questions in mind, what steps should be substituted in order for PhotoReading to be effective and beneficial

According to the PhotoReading information, this technique should be applicable with any material, including magazne articles, textbooks, novels, etc. In cases where the full book relates to the topic I'm interested in learning more about, is it better to read the book the old way, or to PhotoRead it *and* read it the old way rather than only PhotoReading it, or should I RapidRead it instead?

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

If I pick a book of the shelf because the topic is generally of interest to me my usual purpose is..."Is there anything new to me in this book, anything I don't already know. Is this authors view on this different in any way that I'm aware of?"

Afterall you don't really want to re-read the same book over and over again if you're looking for new ideas on the subject?

In this case I still activate the book with at least one activation pass. If it is that interesting that I consider it worthy of a closer read I move to rapid read. This is proving rare even on books that interest me though.

Either way I would always photoread it first. It's fascinates me how often I feel that there is nothing new in the book after photoreading it only to confirm it during a post view. This saves me a lot of time for other books.

Alex

Hi Alex,
Thanks for the reply. Your comments are appreciated. I thought the questions used in PhotoReading had to be more specific than that, but the questions you included in your response would be appropriate to my situation, so that explains which questions to use in preparing to PhotoRead a book of that type. Thanks again!