Sorry, You Can’t Speed Read • Hacker News Board

Re: Sorry, You Can’t Speed Read

#81

Post by givinguflac » Sat, Apr 16, 2016, 2:16 PM UTC

SeanDav wrote: post #42

zipwitch wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I speed read pulp novels, and have for decades. From Doc Savage to Honor Harrington's recent outings, sometimes you just want the the combination of that literary equivalent of zoning out in front of the TV, combined with finding out what happens next. You're right that speed reading very well done stuff is a waste of time, but for the written equivalent of fast food, it seems to work fine. And if something does turn…

What is the point of speed reading a novel? If you can't be bothered to read what the author wrote, word for word (or nearly so) then you might as well go online and read a summary of the novel - job done. When an author writes a book, they consider every word they put in. Every word has meaning and a reason for being there. I am sure you could take almost any novel ever written and reduce it down to a 10th of it's o…

80% of my reading is non-novel material, and speed reading comments and articles allows me to cover 5-10x more content per day. Need input...

Re: Sorry, You Can’t Speed Read

#82

Post by m3mnoch » Sat, Apr 16, 2016, 2:46 PM UTC

this article seems to confuse speed reading with skimming.

i took a full semester class back in high school where all we did was train speed reading. i was able to get to 800 wpm with 90% comprehension on tests. that was from a baseline start of ~150 wpm with 80% comprehension. (the tests afterwards weren't easy "what was the name of bob's dog?" questions)

i've, of course, lost it all in the past 25 years of no practice, but i remember the keys being swallowing entire lines instead of words, achieving "flow", and dropping the subvocalization of what you're reading. (when you pronounce words in your head)

Re: Sorry, You Can’t Speed Read

#83

Post by jwr » Sat, Apr 16, 2016, 2:54 PM UTC

ash wrote: post #66

jwr wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seconded. After I saw and heard how blind people use screen readers (with experience), I started accelerating audio. You can train your brain to become better at understanding — I started at 1.25x and slowly worked my way up. I am now at 1.75x - 2x (plus Overcast's silence removal) and I have no problems, even though English isn't my native language. Two requirements: headphones (you need much more processing power t…

I didn't know about Overcast. Volume normalization for listening in noisy places, smart speed with silence removal - I want those features! Unfortunately Overcast is iOS only. Could anyone recommend an Android app similar to Overcast?

Well, before Overcast appeared I used to just manually process audiobook files with ffmpeg. The command line was:

`ffmpeg -threads 16 -i "$infile" -vn -filter:a "atempo=2.0" -c:a pcm_s16le "$outfile"`;

this produced a .wav file, which is what I fed into Audiobook Builder to produce an .m4b audiobook.

Overcast does a significantly better job, though, and without any extra hassle on my part.

Re: Sorry, You Can’t Speed Read

#84

Post by __s » Sat, Apr 16, 2016, 3:05 PM UTC

SeanDav wrote: post #45

jobigoud wrote: post #37

Regarding audio they say: > Doubling the speed, in our experience, leaves individual words perfectly identifiable — but makes it just about impossible to follow the meaning. Wow, sorry but this is very misinformed. A lot of people me included can listen to audio at 2x. I constantly listen to podcasts (so not a slow narration to begin with) at 2x in English which is not even my native language and I understand everyth…

It depends on the density of the information doesn't it? I would certainly agree that many, if not, most podcasts could be listened to at double speed or higher and still be understood. However if the podcast is about a detailed analysis of how string theory explains quantum gravity effects, then I highly doubt one could listen to it at double speed and retain much understanding.

The inverse holds that the density is sometimes not high enough. I had trouble following videos on the mill cpu at normal speed, but at 1.25/1.5 my mind was forced to pay more attention

Re: Sorry, You Can’t Speed Read

#85

Post by AaronHatch » Sat, Apr 16, 2016, 3:13 PM UTC

From my experience of speed reading classic novels, I actually go faster and with higher comprehension when I slow down and stop trying to comprehend.

I don't read words allowed or to myself in my head. I look at them and move forward. After a few years of doing this, I've been able to go through novels at surprising speeds. It's like I can parse an entire page and visualize everything without trying.

Also, using my finger to guide me only slows me down.

Re: Sorry, You Can’t Speed Read

#86

Post by neffy » Sat, Apr 16, 2016, 3:41 PM UTC

wbl wrote: post #79

Hyperlexia is real. I wouldn't say it always works, and in math it can be very dangerous. But I still have enough retention to participate in undergraduate level discussions of the text after I'm done. Sadly, we don't know how to make ordinary people hyperlexic.

So true - I didn't realise there was a name for it. There's both a lot more natural variation than I suspect this article writer wants to believe - and a lot more training benefit if people want to learn to read faster. Just like any other human activity really.

Re: Sorry, You Can’t Speed Read

#87

Post by mentatghola » Sat, Apr 16, 2016, 3:43 PM UTC

I'm really glad I sped read all these comments.

Re: Sorry, You Can’t Speed Read

#88

Post by myko » Sat, Apr 16, 2016, 3:48 PM UTC

Cyph0n wrote: post #68

ash wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I didn't know about Overcast. Volume normalization for listening in noisy places, smart speed with silence removal - I want those features! Unfortunately Overcast is iOS only. Could anyone recommend an Android app similar to Overcast?

Pocket Casts [1] is the closest you can get on Android. I use Podcast Addict [2], but it's a bit bloated to be frank. [1]: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=au.com.shiftyj... [2]: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bambuna.po...

Pocket Casts is amazing. I use it on iOS and Android. It has silence removal and variable speed playback.

Re: Sorry, You Can’t Speed Read

#89

Post by lmm » Sat, Apr 16, 2016, 4:07 PM UTC

isomorph wrote: post #32

jasonkester wrote: post #9

I don't get why anybody would want to speed read a novel. (Outside of a High School literature class where you're being forced to read Ethan Frome and you just want to get back to playing Minecraft, of course). When I'm reading Hemingway, I'll go back and read individual paragraphs three times to squeeze the last drop of juice out of them. There are only so many Hemingway paragraphs in existence, so wasting one feels…

When I was a kid, I used to speed read each Harry Potter book when it came out, just to find out the plot so nobody could spoil it for me, and then I'd read it again later for enjoyment

Aren't you just spoiling it for yourself then?

Re: Sorry, You Can’t Speed Read

#90

Post by throwanem » Sat, Apr 16, 2016, 4:11 PM UTC

SeanDav wrote: post #42

zipwitch wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I speed read pulp novels, and have for decades. From Doc Savage to Honor Harrington's recent outings, sometimes you just want the the combination of that literary equivalent of zoning out in front of the TV, combined with finding out what happens next. You're right that speed reading very well done stuff is a waste of time, but for the written equivalent of fast food, it seems to work fine. And if something does turn…

What is the point of speed reading a novel? If you can't be bothered to read what the author wrote, word for word (or nearly so) then you might as well go online and read a summary of the novel - job done. When an author writes a book, they consider every word they put in. Every word has meaning and a reason for being there. I am sure you could take almost any novel ever written and reduce it down to a 10th of it's o…

> What is the point of speed reading a novel?

Well, if it's a recent Honor Harrington novel, to skip over all the stuff you already know is going on because it's been covered in pretty much exhaustive detail in the last four or five books too. David Weber is a man in desperate need of an editor.