51–60 of 65 posts
I tried the samples on the bionic reading website, I don’t feel like this makes me read faster. Am I the only one?
Since it isn't mentioned this is inspired/based on https://bionic-reading.com/ (discussed in https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30787290 ). Note, although it has been granted patent only in France, the Bionic Reading name is registered trademark. A web extension was made soon after the link was posted and can be found in https://github.com/ahrm/chrome-fastread (Firefox vers: https://github.com/akay/firefox-fastread…
I know you're (presumably) not the author of the website, but if you're going to produce a method based on the theory of faster/easier reading, it helps to not have a landing page that has up front in big massive fonts a sentence that my mind parses as:
"Did you know that we humans store learned words and so just a few letters your brain reads faster are enough to recognise whole words. than your eye?"
How can one take it seriously when the very first example on the webpage fails on reading cognition!
This definitely does not have the desired effect for me. The uneven contrast made me read slower since I found myself re-scanning the same words again to confirm their spelling. It's only slightly less distracting than reading rANdoMlY CaPitAliSeD tEXt.
It's always fun for me to see flashes in the pan come and go. I saw this first on reddit a few days ago and went "hmm, ok, whatever..." And then on HN today. Now I'm saying "Oh, someone's putting real effort into this thing. Shame, really, I wish they'd move on to something more productive or at the least talk to some experts about their goals. Sigh." And it'll be gone in a week, or a month at most. Sorry. "Convert T…
From comments on HN, Reddit and Twitter, this approach clearly does help many people read faster and with less visual strain - just not everyone. Others say they find it harder to read. I looked at a couple of the iPhone apps that integrate the original Bionic Reading tech and they make it an optional feature that can be toggled on by the user based on preference. It would be very interesting to research what makes i…
But if you believe that, then 9/10 women found shampoo/moisturiser to improve their shine/visibly fade wrinkles!
/that is to say, self-reported testaments and improvements have historically been the chosen method of snake-oil because placebo and self-dellusion are so powerful. There does not appear to be robust evidence that it works at all yet.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Agree. Would love to see some text even explaining what this is or why it's supposed to help. I just see a git repo with no explanation...
As mentioned in one of the comment this is linked to a certain methodology of teaching reading. One where the reader is more focused on the overall shape of the word rather than the individual letters (from memory I think it is the "global reading method"). I think it can have great effect on the speed of reading, but downside effect is less accurate spelling. Also when encountering "Exotic" words reading speed can s…
I also have atrocious spelling, always have, and can't read things with exotic words. (when reading sci-fi I skip all proper nouns).
This also explains why "bionic" is doing nothing for me -- it's meant to nudge one to where I already am.
I wonder if the effectiveness of bionic reading would be improved by using a gradient of weights for each character - instead of just bolding the first half of the word, as this extension does. For example, Open Sans has six levels of weight: light, regular, medium, semi-bold, bold, and extra bold: https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Open+Sans
there’s already beeline that does this https://www.beelinereader.com/
Earlier quoted context omitted.
From comments on HN, Reddit and Twitter, this approach clearly does help many people read faster and with less visual strain - just not everyone. Others say they find it harder to read. I looked at a couple of the iPhone apps that integrate the original Bionic Reading tech and they make it an optional feature that can be toggled on by the user based on preference. It would be very interesting to research what makes i…
Well, no. It clearly provides self-reported testament that it helps. But if you believe that, then 9/10 women found shampoo/moisturiser to improve their shine/visibly fade wrinkles! /that is to say, self-reported testaments and improvements have historically been the chosen method of snake-oil because placebo and self-dellusion are so powerful. There does not appear to be robust evidence that it works at all yet.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
As mentioned in one of the comment this is linked to a certain methodology of teaching reading. One where the reader is more focused on the overall shape of the word rather than the individual letters (from memory I think it is the "global reading method"). I think it can have great effect on the speed of reading, but downside effect is less accurate spelling. Also when encountering "Exotic" words reading speed can s…
Thanks so much for your comment! I learned a thing! I (apparently) read that way (global reading method), I don't know any other way to read, and I wasn't sure it was anything unusual. My parents didn't do anything special, it's just how I read. I also have atrocious spelling, always have, and can't read things with exotic words. (when reading sci-fi I skip all proper nouns). This also explains why "bionic" is doing…
As a non expert, my analysis would be reduced to :
- whole word would focus of growing the list of words you would be able to recognize. - phonics focus on the link between speaking and reading, which I guess could build up self confidence for being more eloquent, and in my opinion would help with learning foreign languages.
Since it isn't mentioned this is inspired/based on https://bionic-reading.com/ (discussed in https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30787290 ). Note, although it has been granted patent only in France, the Bionic Reading name is registered trademark. A web extension was made soon after the link was posted and can be found in https://github.com/ahrm/chrome-fastread (Firefox vers: https://github.com/akay/firefox-fastread…
Oh god. I know you're (presumably) not the author of the website, but if you're going to produce a method based on the theory of faster/easier reading, it helps to not have a landing page that has up front in big massive fonts a sentence that my mind parses as: "Did you know that we humans store learned words and so just a few letters your brain reads faster are enough to recognise whole words. than your eye?" How ca…
It's always fun for me to see flashes in the pan come and go. I saw this first on reddit a few days ago and went "hmm, ok, whatever..." And then on HN today. Now I'm saying "Oh, someone's putting real effort into this thing. Shame, really, I wish they'd move on to something more productive or at the least talk to some experts about their goals. Sigh." And it'll be gone in a week, or a month at most. Sorry. "Convert T…
> But, based on what? I don't see any pointers to papers or other academic work or collaboration. Do you only experience things once they have been thoroughly peer reviewed? Why not quickly try it out for yourself and decide.
What a naive and leading question.
I judge strong assertions on the evidence provided. This is what taking "Caveat emptor" to heart looks like.
> Why not quickly try it out for yourself and decide.
I did. It doesn't make any difference for me.
That's the same argument that I've heard from religious members of my family. "Just read this book and apply what it says, your life will definitely improve."
Sure.