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Human speech may have a universal transmission rate: 39 bits per second

sciencemag.org

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Re: Human speech may have a universal transmission rate: 39 bits per second

#141

Post by yowlingcat »

knzhou wrote: post #49
ilamont wrote: post #15

But, he says, instead of being limited by how quickly we can process information by listening, we’re likely limited by how quickly we can gather our thoughts. That’s because, he says, the average person can listen to audio recordings sped up to about 120%—and still have no problems with comprehension. Some years ago I worked on an accessibility project for an app and website designed for people with disabilities. One…

I've known a lot of people that push podcasts, videos, and audiobooks to extreme speed. I knew a guy who'd turn video speed up to 8x so he could binge watch a season of generic anime in an hour flat. I knew a girl who'd get through paperback romance novels by scanning each page diagonally, in 10 seconds each. And here in this thread we have a lot of people bragging along the same lines. I just don't get the point. If…

For me, when I'm reading something dense, my WPM fluctuates. It could be 300WPM in the easy areas, and down to 30WPM in the conceptually challenging areas.

Re: Human speech may have a universal transmission rate: 39 bits per second

#142

Post by bane »

stormbeard wrote: post #111
bane wrote: post #107

I recall a moment when, as an adult, I thought it might be fun to watch some cartoons that were my favorite as a child. I actually ended up giving up fairly quickly because the rate of the speech in many cartoons is apparently geared to be very slow. I remember firing up the first episode of the classic Thundercats show and being really struck at how much slower the characters spoke than my memory of the show. On the…

Diane Rehm has spasmodic dysphonia, which affects the way she speaks. She's not just old.

True, but spasmodic dysphonia doesn't cause slow speech [1]. It's the source of other speech issues she's worked hard to over come.

Her pattern of speech is in general among the slowest I've ever heard -- sometimes approaching single digit words per minute. She's not always so slow, there's interstitials and other moments when her speaking is just kind of slow not unbearable.

Despite my personal feelings, I think her pace of speaking is part of what her appeal was. After being assaulted by other media all day, her show can also be a very relaxing listen and was nearly always a very intelligent conversation.

1 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqzfsKMaLqk

Re: Human speech may have a universal transmission rate: 39 bits per second

#143

Post by fargle »

Mm.Hmm... Not sure the researchers have yet encountered the Deep South (US). I estimate approximately 17 bits of information in "Mm.hmm..." based on the 128K possible meanings. It takes about 5-10 seconds for proper gestation, when uttered expertly during the course of a lively conversation.

So more like approximately 1.7 to 3.4 bits/s.

Re: Human speech may have a universal transmission rate: 39 bits per second

#144

Post by fargle »

fargle wrote: post #143

Mm.Hmm... Not sure the researchers have yet encountered the Deep South (US). I estimate approximately 17 bits of information in "Mm.hmm..." based on the 128K possible meanings. It takes about 5-10 seconds for proper gestation, when uttered expertly during the course of a lively conversation. So more like approximately 1.7 to 3.4 bits/s.

y'all

Re: Human speech may have a universal transmission rate: 39 bits per second

#145

Post by jlebar »

knzhou wrote: post #49
ilamont wrote: post #15

But, he says, instead of being limited by how quickly we can process information by listening, we’re likely limited by how quickly we can gather our thoughts. That’s because, he says, the average person can listen to audio recordings sped up to about 120%—and still have no problems with comprehension. Some years ago I worked on an accessibility project for an app and website designed for people with disabilities. One…

I've known a lot of people that push podcasts, videos, and audiobooks to extreme speed. I knew a guy who'd turn video speed up to 8x so he could binge watch a season of generic anime in an hour flat. I knew a girl who'd get through paperback romance novels by scanning each page diagonally, in 10 seconds each. And here in this thread we have a lot of people bragging along the same lines. I just don't get the point. If…

Any content that can be sped up [by 8x] without loss is not worth listening to in the first place.

"That's just, like, your opinion, man."

Obviously the people who are getting something out of it, otherwise they wouldn't do it?

"Don't yuck my yum."

Re: Human speech may have a universal transmission rate: 39 bits per second

#147

Post by netcraft »

emilga wrote: post #26
ilamont wrote: post #15

But, he says, instead of being limited by how quickly we can process information by listening, we’re likely limited by how quickly we can gather our thoughts. That’s because, he says, the average person can listen to audio recordings sped up to about 120%—and still have no problems with comprehension. Some years ago I worked on an accessibility project for an app and website designed for people with disabilities. One…

Here’s a blind programmer using Visual Studio with a ridiculously fast TTS: https://youtu.be/94swlF55tVc

Thank you for sharing that, was super interesting.

Re: Human speech may have a universal transmission rate: 39 bits per second

#148

Post by samstave »

ilamont wrote: post #15

But, he says, instead of being limited by how quickly we can process information by listening, we’re likely limited by how quickly we can gather our thoughts. That’s because, he says, the average person can listen to audio recordings sped up to about 120%—and still have no problems with comprehension. Some years ago I worked on an accessibility project for an app and website designed for people with disabilities. One…

I listen to youtube videos at 200%

What do i win???

Re: Human speech may have a universal transmission rate: 39 bits per second

#149

Post by samstave »

dredmorbius wrote: post #91
knzhou wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've known a lot of people that push podcasts, videos, and audiobooks to extreme speed. I knew a guy who'd turn video speed up to 8x so he could binge watch a season of generic anime in an hour flat. I knew a girl who'd get through paperback romance novels by scanning each page diagonally, in 10 seconds each. And here in this thread we have a lot of people bragging along the same lines. I just don't get the point. If…

Exceedingly slow narration, particularly what's normal for audiobooks, is annoying to me because it's slower than I process words. It's like walking with someone whose pace is far slower than your natural gait -- it takes more energy and concentration to slow down. It's why slow-talkers are so annoying. This isn't "how fast can I go through this" but "what is a comfortable pace"? So I bump the speed up, though usuall…

Yup! _+1

Re: Human speech may have a universal transmission rate: 39 bits per second

#150

Post by galangalalgol »

bradknowles wrote: post #96
dfhdshfff wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used to watch a lot of lectures at a high speed. But I've came to realize that the faster I watch something, the faster I forget it. It is like the infromation doesn't have the time to settle in my memory, despite me understanding it. It's maybe because when things are slow, I can use the dead time to think about the implication/corner cases of what's being said.

If you really want to understand it, I would encourage you to write down notes about it by hand. For some reason I do not yet understand, the motion of physically putting pen(cil) to paper helps ingrain that information into your brain, in a way that typing it into a computer does not.

This varies by person. Not everyone learns by writing. Some only learn b hearing or seeing. Some can only learn by doing. Most of us are a mix. I learn just abou every way except for writing or typing. Online lectures i do best by playing at 1.2x at most and pausing regularly to let me think of implications and to crosslink to things i have already learned.
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