I usually read so fast that by the time I get to the end of the text, I skip the last few words for the sake of finishing quickly. This turns out to be a waste of time and not very relieving. However, when I focus on reading slowly I'm thinking too much about it and can't concentrate on what I'm reading. I think more than reading slower or faster, it's about finding a pace where you feel comfortable and let your brain go a bit.
Read Slowly to Benefit Your Brain and Cut Stress
31–40 of 43 posts
Re: Read Slowly to Benefit Your Brain and Cut Stress
#32Here is a case for even slower reading: research paper reading!
http://muratbuffalo.blogspot.com/2013/07/how-i-read-research...
Re: Read Slowly to Benefit Your Brain and Cut Stress
#33I've always been a skimmer. With most writing, a good portion of the words can be skipped without missing much content. The web hasn't changed this for me. I did it before with print books including fiction for entertainment. Sometime when the subject matter is deep or densely packed I have to make myself slow down. Usually this isn't the case though.
I read a lot of fiction... (checks kindle) looks like about 100 books a year. I definitely start skimming when the story isn't engaging enough. Roughly speaking, I think the better a book is, the less I tend to skim. A truly great novel I will read at probably 10% of the speed of a bad one. (If it's really bad, of course, I stop reading and throw it away.. that's probably the case with 20% of the novels I start). Wit…
Depends on the book but I've definitely found some dense technical books (mostly textbooks) have to be read much slower than my normal speed for real comprehension.
Re: Read Slowly to Benefit Your Brain and Cut Stress
#34Despite many occurrences of the word "slow", this article seems to have nothing at all to do with the speed at which you read.
One wonders what's wrong with using the phrase "offline reading" or "electronically-disconnected reading" to denote this style of reading we used to simply call... "reading." Alas, I suppose it's simply not catchy enough for the neo-digital age.
Re: Read Slowly to Benefit Your Brain and Cut Stress
#35I've always thought I had a problem with reading. Whenever I read fiction, I read the text as though it is being spoken. So I've never joined a book club because I've always been afraid I'd never be able to finish a book in the same time it takes "normal people" who will typically finish the same book about 2 days earlier than me on average.
Everyone sub-vocalizes to a certain extent. Try using an RSVP reader for a while and you may find you have more control over the process and find it less disruptive.
Re: Read Slowly to Benefit Your Brain and Cut Stress
#36Slowly here should mean not the speed of reading, a-la words oper second, but the checking/matching of every meaningful piece of information against your internal (trained) 'map of the universe'. BTW, one could speed-read only texts on a familiar subjects, the way most of us read 90% of narcissistic nonsense here. On the contrary, those wery rare pieces of meaningful thought from self-made professionals (nothing in c…
I have both of those problems too. I find it an effective remedy to use a pencil to asterisk thought-provoking passages in the margin. It helps me focus on each sentence as potentially noteworthy, but when I note one, it also helps me let it go and move on from there.
--EDIT: Accidentally replied to the wrong comment. Apparently I should be reading more slowly.
Re: Read Slowly to Benefit Your Brain and Cut Stress
#37Despite many occurrences of the word "slow", this article seems to have nothing at all to do with the speed at which you read.
They appear to be using the term "slow reading" to distinguish it from online reading: "One 2006 study of the eye movements of 232 people looking at Web pages found they read in an "F" pattern... None of this is good for our ability to comprehend deeply, scientists say." I personally have 3 styles of reading: - Fiction, I read incredibly slowly, and always have done. - Technical books, I absorb very quickly, often sc…
What about non-fiction books that could be considered technical in anothers field?
Re: Read Slowly to Benefit Your Brain and Cut Stress
#38I've always thought I had a problem with reading. Whenever I read fiction, I read the text as though it is being spoken. So I've never joined a book club because I've always been afraid I'd never be able to finish a book in the same time it takes "normal people" who will typically finish the same book about 2 days earlier than me on average.
I don't see that as a problem. I read books and narrate them to myself in my head. Sometimes I even develop voices for the characters. If they're talking fast, I read it faster. If the action is slow, I read it slower. When the author describes something, I take the time to visualize it in my head.
The downside to this (other than sometimes slow reading) is that by the end of the book I am so deeply entrenched in this world that I don't want to leave it. It really feels like I'm leaving something behind forever when I finish the last page. I had withdrawls from Wool and its associated trilogy by Hugh Howey. Such an engrossing series and such relatable characters that with my reading style, I was devastated. And then I moved on to the next book.
Re: Read Slowly to Benefit Your Brain and Cut Stress
#39Reading slowly makes me drowsy. I think that's a sign I need to get more sleep!
Re: Read Slowly to Benefit Your Brain and Cut Stress
#40When I'm having trouble paying attention to a book, particularly a non-fiction that I have to drudge through, I'll slow down and start reading the book in the voice of a famous comedian. Suddenly everything is 10x more interesting. Try Robin Williams. Graph Theory taught by Robin Williams is really charming. He laughs jovially at every theorem.