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- cscalfani, on 10/11/2007, -0/+52"I took a speed reading course and read War and Peace in twenty minutes. It involves Russia." -- Woody Allen
- Xanium4332, on 10/11/2007, -0/+25Buy a faster brain, and eyes. Try to get eyes with low latency timings, like 4-4-4-12, and if you can afford it, although experimental, dual core brains are available.
If you really want to live on the edge, you could try overclocking your brain. However it is important to note that this will require additional cooling, and may degrade the shelf life. This can be done using any SPEED type drug, but please read the label before use. System instability may occur (spasams), unless frequency locks are used (to prevent overclocking other parts of the body).
And finally, remember that doing any of this will void your warranty (life insurance). - Homunculiheaded, on 10/11/2007, -0/+17When i was and undergraduate English major having to read many, many novels and essays a month speed reading with very high comprehension was the holy grail. I researched and experimented a lot. I have to agree strongly with the wikipedia article that subvocalization is an important part of comprehension.
The best thing you can do to up your reading speed, other than read a lot ;), is to understand the limitations of the human eye. The eye needs a focal point and sucks at following a path, and because of this it can become habit to back track when you read, or have your eye wander. Eye movements are the biggest restriction to faster reading (within the bounds of good comprehension). That's why the software mentioned above works so well.
But for books, use either a pen or your finger to follow the lines. Even better is to move your finger/pen in arcs limiting the number of focal points your eyes rest at. I've always found it strange because many people look at using your finger as a sign of poor reading skills when in fact the opposite is the case.
Read at the rate you're comfortable with, but use something to keep your eyes in line. You won't be reading at lightening speeds, but you will read faster. - robbyjo, on 10/11/2007, -2/+18Wikipedia has a nice article that debunks most of speed reading myths.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_reading
My personal average reading speed is about 700-800 wpm, without any speed reading courses. But my best level is probably about 350-400 wpm. I think I understand a lot more on that speed. - Spacecow, on 10/11/2007, -0/+15One great way to improve reading comprehension is to user computer metaphors for everything!
Wait, no. No it's not. Why couldn't the headline just be "Improve your reading speed?" - z00k, on 10/11/2007, -4/+17I use to use a software called "eyeQ" ... Definitely helped me out with reading faster.
Main site: http://www.infmind.com/ - (Includes Free online demo of "eyeQ")
Torrent(s): http://www.torrentz.com/search?q=eyeQ&x=0&y=0
Note... Thefamousone... That is one of the things eyeQ includes in it's software... I'm not even joking... You stare at a dot in the middle of the screen. - inactive, on 10/11/2007, -2/+15Thank you for not saying 'Hack'
- EntangledPhysx, on 10/11/2007, -1/+11@ Illbeback
Don't be a douche bag - judgesuds, on 10/11/2007, -1/+11hehe i just found myself reading faster and faster as i read the article, Ive always been a bit of a slow reader...
- emehrkay, on 10/11/2007, -2/+12@zook
I just did the demo, if there ever was a perfect setup for a scary zombie face, this was it.
My wpm went from 275 - 350 - cogitocogito, on 10/11/2007, -1/+11I tried overclocking, but the fan I had to install in my ass didn't go over too well.
- mowgli2001, on 10/11/2007, -1/+9I can read a thousand words per minute but I can't remember what I was doing.. I want ice cream.
- inactive, on 10/11/2007, -1/+8I hate these "guides". Notice none of them actually tell you how to do it. They just give vague descriptions of how it's done.
No digg. - stonebear, on 10/11/2007, -0/+6I learned to speed read by skimming over heaps of blather and spam in search of content at digg.com.
- IllBeBack, on 10/11/2007, -0/+6I read the article really quickly, but I only understood about 50% of it.
/sarcasm - MaikuSan, on 10/11/2007, -0/+6But he did say "overclock"
- DoscoJones, on 10/11/2007, -1/+6
Slow speed is for enjoying. Fast speed is for working. No dichotomy required. - cdtoad, on 10/11/2007, -1/+6deeps reading don't work if you're cixelsyd
- inactive, on 10/11/2007, -0/+5Yes, it's a step in the right direction, though :)
- vexxefx, on 10/11/2007, -2/+7Who else tried to read the description as fast as they could?
- silverchrysalis, on 10/11/2007, -1/+5when we overclocked our computer it smoked. i'm supposed to do the same thing to my brain?
- heidtmare, on 10/11/2007, -2/+5It's a quick read...
- MadEnvoy, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3I learned so much from this article I didn't even have to read it.
- coolspray, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3@famemoney (#6790942)
Went from 414 to 579 in one exercise. Cool program. - Tias, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2663 WPM after taking the EyeQ-demo :-D. 445 before.
- DoscoJones, on 10/11/2007, -2/+4
This'd ***** up any piece of fiction you'd want to read, good or bad. Might as well read the first chapter and then go right to the last page. - DoscoJones, on 10/11/2007, -4/+6*****. Fan. 'nuff said.
- inactive, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2VERY IMPORTANT
use the same article until you can understand it at a rate 50% greater than your initial speed.
then go back to your initial speed and increase the number of words displayed per second.
do this until you are comprehending at least 7 words at a time, for example, at rate 50 % greater than your initial speed.
Then pick another article and repeat the above but add an extra couple of words before switch articles again.
You need to increase your "field of vision" - make it wider - so that in time you can simply down scan the article as opposed to across scanning it.
hope this helps.
I wish you great success with this.
btw, really impresses the babes.
lol
IMHO
PJ - inactive, on 10/11/2007, -4/+6Aka: how to develop ADHD
- nova912, on 10/11/2007, -3/+5I sub-vocalize everything I read =/. It sucks when I'm reading a long article and my girl is like "i finished that 2 minuets ago, scroll down"... Doh need to start skimming =P
- nevaseez, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2instead quicker reading, authors less words writing
then again, maybe not :P - inactive, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2Seriously?
it takes practice.
like throwing a ball or stick-handling.
At first you feel silly or frustrated, and that is quite normal.
you won't remember jack *****.
also you can't be wanting to argue with the author every other sentence.
Let it all go until you get some cerebral pipe laid down to handle the flow at higher speeds.
There is also another aspect to speed reading which takes a little explaining. If you reflect on music, then you may know of something called a "riff".
From Wikipedia
"In music, a riff is an ostinato figure: a repeated chord progression, pattern or melodic figure, often played by the rhythm section instruments, that forms the basis or accompaniment of a musical composition (Usually rock music, Latin, Funk or jazz, but also occasionally classically orchestrated music, Ravel's Boléro being an obvious example). They can be as simple as repeated saxophone honking an entire chorus on a single exciting note by Big Jay McNeely or as complex as the head arrangements played by the Count Basie Orchestra.
..."
We have them in language as well. Some parts of sentences are flavouring or coloring material. Like, but not limited to, adjectives and adverbs.
As you gain experience with the specific task of increasing your reading speed you will become familiar with the things that slow you down, like the flavouring and color. You will learn to skim these as well as learning to motor along.
Also, if you understand a thing then you may skip any following similes or metaphors.
With the mechanism in question, skipping is hard to implement.
also the more English grammar you are familiar with the better your comprehension will become.
"English 3200" is a great grammar learning mechanism. It is a book, true, but not in the traditional sense.
Some writers are simply indifferent to formal "style"
"Strunk and White" can fix you up there.
I realise that this appears to be a great deal of work. However, if you reflect back onto sports, then you can see this in terms of "good equipment" which I'm confident that you will agree is important.
Twenty minutes a day on all three, the machine and the two books, and within six months you'll be reading for others because you are just faster than they are.
AND some writers are just not worth the effort. - inactive, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1228 at the EyeQ-demo start and 318 when finished.
This EyeQ-demo thing encompasses what I wrote above.
I remember quite a bit of the final selection.
kudos to @Tias
My head only aches a little bit, and I feel motion sick - nauseated.
I "would" like to try the test with non-fiction. - dwerfelmann, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1My reading level is 250-300 WPM. This is about average (according to a couple online sources), but it seems like a lot of you have much faster reading levels than that. I did the exercise and it only increased like 40 points, but I think I understood the first passage better than the second (I really wanted to get faster!).
So my question is this: Am I and others with average reading speeds slower readers than most Diggers? Post your reading speeds so we can compare. - jedioniram, on 10/11/2007, -2/+3From the article:
"In fact, I would suggest skipping parts of a book that you don’t need. Almost every book has a good point or two, but it is highly unlikely that you need to read every page of the entire book."
Maybe when looking for something specific that works.. but for general reading, who honestly says "no, it's ok, just skip chapter 3, you don't need it" - inactive, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1slow down?
- EntangledPhysx, on 10/11/2007, -2/+3only if the LEDs are 6 watts!!!
- inactive, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1one last thing,
If you are serious about this, then a thorough eye examination by an opthamologist might be a good start.
That is all folks
PJ - JesseJ, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1I did the EyeQ thing 5 years ago. I went from 450 to 900-1200wpm. It works.
It pretty much changed my life. - yogaiscool, on 07/26/2009, -0/+1http://www.free-speed-reading.com/ has a speed reading test that's free, and some software downloads. Ace Reader and Speed ReaderX and the like are all paid programs - this one's free.
- kimoftheworld, on 04/14/2009, -0/+1If it's speed reading, trust me I'm there:
http://readingspeedcourse.com/ - tektalk, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1I do speed reading on all digg stories, comments, including this article. Sadly, I'll forget it in the next day or two, anyone know how to solve this?
- inactive, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Speed reading is great I suppose that is until the lawyer hands you a contract the size of a phone book.
How come they never teach you to speed read the "fine print" - Error601, on 10/11/2007, -0/+0All sound advice in there. The speed reading course I took in college had training materials to teach you to use your peripheral vision effectively. Basically you keep your eyes at the center of the page and read the entire line without moving left to right. Then what they already cover in the article about not mentally pronouncing each word. Some people even move their jaw slightly which really slows things down. Don't think it's going to be easy though. Breaking habit set at a very young age is tough.
- ilPesca, on 10/11/2007, -0/+0I do have lysdexia
- batmankiller, on 10/11/2007, -0/+0i downloaded the otrrent could i get a registration key
- FranzJ, on 01/26/2008, -0/+0I really like this Topic. I already bought two books on this topic (one English, one German). :-)
If you are German please look at my blog: http://gutscheinblog.wordpress.com/ - nportillo, on 10/11/2007, -0/+0thanks for this article
- inactive, on 10/11/2007, -1/+0If you wanna speed read, you might as well read a page in the middle of the book and read the summary on the cover. What ***** idiots post on zen habits? I wanna know the writer's address so I can sock him/her on the face and tell him to read a short 100 page book at 600 wpm. Then I'll tell him/her to summarize at least 2% of what happened in the book.
I bet the author wouldn't even memorize 0.001% of the book. What retards.
The article is plain "icky yucky" *****. You might as well eat dog poo as it's better than remembering nothing that happened in the book. - inactive, on 10/11/2007, -7/+6I'm wondering how many speed readers we have on digg ? But how many photo readers ? Share tips and secrets please.
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