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I Was Wrong About Speed Reading (2015)

scotthyoung.com

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Re: I Was Wrong About Speed Reading (2015)

#21

On “subvocalization” ... > It’s simply not possible to comprehend what you’re reading and avoid using that inner voice. So reading faster means being able to use this inner voice faster, not eliminating it. To further that, expert speed readers who were studied also subvocalized, they just did it faster. I’ve seen this argued elsewhere, and am not convinced they’ve found readers who do not subvocalize to study. Most…

I, as a non-native English speaker who mainly interface English through written language and rarely via spoken language, find this fascinating. I am able to read articles and blog posts in English rapidly and with full comprehension, but I'm totally NOT able to speak out loud most of the words. I find that it's mostly through visual medium the words "come" to me.

Re: I Was Wrong About Speed Reading (2015)

#22

On “subvocalization” ... > It’s simply not possible to comprehend what you’re reading and avoid using that inner voice. So reading faster means being able to use this inner voice faster, not eliminating it. To further that, expert speed readers who were studied also subvocalized, they just did it faster. I’ve seen this argued elsewhere, and am not convinced they’ve found readers who do not subvocalize to study. Most…

It's impossible to get into the flow state of reading (when you are not aware you are reading) without subvocalizing. I've tried forever. It's impossible and anyone who claims to is lying or is just constantly skimming ("speed reading").

Re: I Was Wrong About Speed Reading (2015)

#23
post #11

Reading speed strikes me similarly to typing speed when it comes to programming. It's fun to read/type fast, but it's not really the bottleneck.

Time spent typing might not be a bottleneck, but I think latency between thinking and having code can be. Typing quickly isn't the only way to reduce that latency though.

Re: I Was Wrong About Speed Reading (2015)

#24
post #11

Reading speed strikes me similarly to typing speed when it comes to programming. It's fun to read/type fast, but it's not really the bottleneck.

It depends on what you're programming as well. I suspect for cases when you can type faster than you think you'd be able to use a macro or some IDE snippet feature for it.

Re: I Was Wrong About Speed Reading (2015)

#25
post #22

On “subvocalization” ... > It’s simply not possible to comprehend what you’re reading and avoid using that inner voice. So reading faster means being able to use this inner voice faster, not eliminating it. To further that, expert speed readers who were studied also subvocalized, they just did it faster. I’ve seen this argued elsewhere, and am not convinced they’ve found readers who do not subvocalize to study. Most…

It's impossible to get into the flow state of reading (when you are not aware you are reading) without subvocalizing. I've tried forever. It's impossible and anyone who claims to is lying or is just constantly skimming ("speed reading").

That’s a pretty strong statement. I don’t normally subvocalize while reading, and yes, I can still get into that flow state if I’m immersed in what I’m reading. I can subvocalize while reading if I think about it, but it’s honestly kind of distracting.

Re: I Was Wrong About Speed Reading (2015)

#26
post #11

Reading speed strikes me similarly to typing speed when it comes to programming. It's fun to read/type fast, but it's not really the bottleneck.

Actually, I'd say they're different because of their position in cache. The reason it doesn't work for reading unfamiliar material is that you don't have the information yet. You need to assimilate to build the picture. In fact, I recall speed reading material I was familiar with and absolutely achieving significant comprehension.

Writing is different. Increasing throughput almost has continuous gains all the way to blitting to computer. This makes sense. Everything is hot cached. Right now everything between my thoughts and the machine is just in the way.

Re: I Was Wrong About Speed Reading (2015)

#27

On “subvocalization” ... > It’s simply not possible to comprehend what you’re reading and avoid using that inner voice. So reading faster means being able to use this inner voice faster, not eliminating it. To further that, expert speed readers who were studied also subvocalized, they just did it faster. I’ve seen this argued elsewhere, and am not convinced they’ve found readers who do not subvocalize to study. Most…

I, as a non-native English speaker who mainly interface English through written language and rarely via spoken language, find this fascinating. I am able to read articles and blog posts in English rapidly and with full comprehension, but I'm totally NOT able to speak out loud most of the words. I find that it's mostly through visual medium the words "come" to me.

I wonder if there's anyone out there who can read a non-alphabetic language (e.g. Chinese) but doesn't even know how to pronounce what they're reading.

Maybe an experiment could involve a fictional ideogram language, and compare peoples subvocalizing (or lack thereof) versus their native one.

Re: I Was Wrong About Speed Reading (2015)

#28

On “subvocalization” ... > It’s simply not possible to comprehend what you’re reading and avoid using that inner voice. So reading faster means being able to use this inner voice faster, not eliminating it. To further that, expert speed readers who were studied also subvocalized, they just did it faster. I’ve seen this argued elsewhere, and am not convinced they’ve found readers who do not subvocalize to study. Most…

The first time you type your newly created password, it's like executing a program/script that goes: "Type('a'); Type('b'); ..."

Once it becomes muscle memory, there's no longer a script (which is why the password is no longer consciously available) for you to execute: you trigger the first finger motion, then it all happens more or less automatically, since the individual finger motions are linked together by sensory cues. Software becomes firmware as it were. I suspect those who claim not to subvocalize could be in an analogous situation, which would mean that they aren't really adopting a fundamentally different approach to reading. Their 'reading program' still takes the same shape as normal people, only a component of it is outsourced and so is no longer consciously available.

Incidentally Charles Dickens wrote about Laura Bridgman (the first deaf-blind person to learn to 'speak' English by communicating with her fingers) and said you can literally visually tell when she's thinking since she'd be moving her fingers. That sounds like the analog of subvocalization for her.

> Her social feelings, and her affections, are very strong; and when she is sitting at work, or by the side of one of her little friends, she will break off from her task every few moments, to hug and kiss them with an earnestness and warmth that is touching to behold. When left alone, she occupies and apparently amuses herself, and seems quite content; and so strong seems to be the natural tendency of thought to put on the garb of language, that she often soliloquizes in the finger language, slow and tedious as it is. But it is only when alone, that she is quiet; for if she becomes sensible of the presence of any one near her, she is restless until she can sit close beside them, hold their hand, and converse with them by sign.[20]

Re: I Was Wrong About Speed Reading (2015)

#29

I practice what could be called "speed listening" -- listening to audiobooks and podcasts (and watching videos) at 2x to 3x speed. It saves a lot of time, and I only wish I'd started sooner.

Same here.

I often start with 1.5x and go up to 2x or 3x after a few minutes.

It's extremely important for online courses that would normally take weeks to watch and it starts feeling normal so quickly. When I go back to 1x it feels like people talk in slow-motion.

But I think quizzes are important in that context, otherwise the new knowledge won't solidify.

I'm always impressed of how much of my duolingo Spanish skills are still present, even if I didn't use the app for half a year or read any Spanish in that time.

Re: I Was Wrong About Speed Reading (2015)

#30
Mind map the book starting with the conclusion then toc.

If a book takes more than 4 hours to mind map it's either a good book or poorly organised.

The reading speed isn't the constraint. It's placing the knowledge in your knowledge tree without tiring yourself out. Only read the key parts of the knowledge tree slowly in depth.

Use A3 paper and a click pencil. Speeds the reading right up. When the books mapped, explain the mind map to someone.

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