ART OF MANLINESS
A venerable website that I have run into by chance more than a couple times is ArtOfManliness.com. The target audience is men who wish to improve themselves in variously virtuous ways. The article on speed reading ( http://touch.artofmanliness.com/artofmanliness/#!/entry/how-to-speed-read-like-theodore-roosevelt,502ecf26444f6789471f2dcb ) was especially helpful for me.
The prominently displayed photo there of Teddy Roosevelt wearing almost reflective glasses boring his eyes with laser focus into that soon-to-be-conquered book while petting his trusty hound is breathtaking to say the least. Apparently Teddy Roosevelt would consume an entire book daily before breakfast! What a feat. He flipped through three pages a minute. That was three times faster than my best speed, I realized, so I had my work cut out for me.
In scanning for more information on JFK's speed reading, I found that he was taught by an Evelyn Wood, who also trained his staff. Apparently other presidents including Jimmy Carter employed these very methods as well. To this date I have not yet found what appears reliably to be Evelyn Wood's exact course, whether in free or paid material.
The whole article is worth reading, and relates in another voice some of what I wrote in the previous post. But the most grateful bit of the article was my introduction to www.Spreeder.com.
Spreeder allows you to copy and paste text into the window on the main page, and set the WPM to any desired up to any desired (even beyond a computer screen's frame rate, I suspect, to say nothing of beyond human cognition), and practice reading in chunks of one, two, three, 10, 20 words at a time, whatever one wants. Font size, type, color, alignment are all to the preference of the reader. It even has advanced settings, which I recommend employing, such as slowing down a bit for longer chunks and at punctuation.
The only problem was knowing exactly how to practice with this app to improve my unaided speed reading (such as with an actual book), and how to use this miraculous tool proactively to train myself. I felt like I was an aspiring athlete thrown into a fully equipped gym with a free membership and no idea how to use any of the machines.
SPREEDER EXPERIMENTS
Being fond of American Revolutionary history, I have wanted to read all of Thomas Jefferson's personal letters, if only to appropriate some of the style of his immaculate pen. (You may find his letters here: http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/presidents/thomas-jefferson/letters-of-thomas-jefferson/ ). So, I began copying and pasting his letters into Spreeder, and decided to read at least one a day.
After a day or so I settled in a regular pattern which I continue to the present. Not knowing what WPM I should use or size of word chunks, I decided to reread each letter a few times, steadily increasing speeds and chunk sizes. An interesting epistemological conundrum occurred to me: how do I know if I'm really capable of a certain speed with any given material? That is to say, I can read a passage at 500 WPM and comprehend and retain, but could I have done so quite as easily at 600 WPM? Since I've already read that article I can never be sure. It's downright Heisenbergian.
Ignoring that unknowable, I follow this pattern of trials with my rereading on Spreeder:
1. 500 WPM, 1-word chunks
2. 600 WPM*, 2-word chunks
3. 700 WPM, 3-4-word chunks
4. 800 WPM, 3-4-word chunks
5. 900 WPM, 2-word chunks
6. 1,000 WPM, 1-word chunks
*the "sonic barrier"
My logic, such as it is at this stage, is to gain familiarity with the passage at the slowest necessary speed for comprehension (which would at times need to be as slow as 400 WPM), without the need for peripheral vision. Increasing word chunk sizes forces the stretching of peripheral vision, but the words flash by at a slower rate so it creates the illusion of actually slowing down. After crossing the sonic barrier, I would play with the high hundreds at different chunk sizes, winding down to the super-stream of 1,000 WPM and blasting it all into my conscious at twice the original speed.
Now here is a different experience! Traditional speed reading techniques with a physical book require proportional physical activity on the part of the reader: you have to hold the book down, move the pen your your hand rapidly, and move your eyes across the page. This does all that for you! allowing the reader to limit his training to information-absorption velocity and peripheral vision training.
It really is a trip. After the first time having a thousand-word data stream beamed into your brain in under two minutes, I was blown back in my seat! I felt like Neo from the Matrix: "Holy s---!" "I'm a machine," I laughed to myself.
Blinking is not advised! In seriousness, I do try to wink one eye at a time so I don't miss any words, especially at super-high speed. Occasionally I've cranked it up to 1,200 WPM to see if I get it at Kennedy-speed. If I had already read the article once (or several times), I usually got it all! Again the epistemological argument: am I just remembering quickly or really comprehending in-time?
Unfortunately, changing the Spreeder settings on an iPhone is kind of dodgy since the inferface was designed for a mouse, but in iPad it seems to work pretty well thanks to the larger screen real estate (but the slider doesn't seem to react to touch). Eager to find an iPhone specific app, I shelled out $10 for the ReadQuick app, which would seem to do the same thing as Spreeder.com. I was disappointed. It's basically just an idealized interface for the iPhone (and also iPad), exept you can't copy and paste; you have to go to URLs directly (meaning you also can't search like in a browser). Not worth it, in my opinion. It functions great for what it is, but Spreeder does the job better and freer.
SPREEDER EXPEPRIENCE COMMENTARY
Spreeder is truly a revolutionary training tool. Just knowing that the brain is absorbing passages beyond the sonic barrier boosts confidence tremendously.
As subvocalization is to be avoided, I'm still trying to ascertain exactly what the desired state of consciousness is for high-speed reading. That is, I'm not supposed to be "hearing" the words in my head, right? As I mentioned in the first post, I've always enjoyed imagining the words I read in the author's or character's voice, or in my own, colorfully spoken and interesting to "listen" to. When I see the words flashing by, I'm still able to hear my imagined voice for Thomas Jefferson (based on the voice of the character from the HBO miniseries John Adams), and nevertheless seem to comprehend everything with equally vivid mental pictures. I'm not sure if this is the right thing or not. Many speed reading guides strongly advise against this, encouraging the reader to hum or count 1-2-3-4 just to turn off the subvocalization reflex. A curious effect for me is that, if I discourage this subvocal mental sound entirely, I hear in the background a song that I didn't even realize was stuck in my head. It's really quite amazing. I listen to music often, so I can't say I'm suprised that I might perpetually have a track bopping around in my subconscious, but it was a little distracting at first. Playing instrumental classical music helps to temper that overactive part of my mind, but generally I've just gotten used to it and can ignore it well enough to concentrate on the material.
Rather than hear words in the head, the instantaneous generation of images is recommended. I don't find this intuitive yet, but I'll keep at it. Otherwise, although I might be reading a passage with Spreeder at a WPM well past the sonic barrier, I still hear the chosen voice at the compressed speed.
The next post will conclude the past week's backstory and bring us into the present, with the best app and speed reading training tool I've yet found!
The whole article is worth reading, and relates in another voice some of what I wrote in the previous post. But the most grateful bit of the article was my introduction to www.Spreeder.com.
Spreeder allows you to copy and paste text into the window on the main page, and set the WPM to any desired up to any desired (even beyond a computer screen's frame rate, I suspect, to say nothing of beyond human cognition), and practice reading in chunks of one, two, three, 10, 20 words at a time, whatever one wants. Font size, type, color, alignment are all to the preference of the reader. It even has advanced settings, which I recommend employing, such as slowing down a bit for longer chunks and at punctuation.
The only problem was knowing exactly how to practice with this app to improve my unaided speed reading (such as with an actual book), and how to use this miraculous tool proactively to train myself. I felt like I was an aspiring athlete thrown into a fully equipped gym with a free membership and no idea how to use any of the machines.
SPREEDER EXPERIMENTS
Being fond of American Revolutionary history, I have wanted to read all of Thomas Jefferson's personal letters, if only to appropriate some of the style of his immaculate pen. (You may find his letters here: http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/presidents/thomas-jefferson/letters-of-thomas-jefferson/ ). So, I began copying and pasting his letters into Spreeder, and decided to read at least one a day.
After a day or so I settled in a regular pattern which I continue to the present. Not knowing what WPM I should use or size of word chunks, I decided to reread each letter a few times, steadily increasing speeds and chunk sizes. An interesting epistemological conundrum occurred to me: how do I know if I'm really capable of a certain speed with any given material? That is to say, I can read a passage at 500 WPM and comprehend and retain, but could I have done so quite as easily at 600 WPM? Since I've already read that article I can never be sure. It's downright Heisenbergian.
Ignoring that unknowable, I follow this pattern of trials with my rereading on Spreeder:
1. 500 WPM, 1-word chunks
2. 600 WPM*, 2-word chunks
3. 700 WPM, 3-4-word chunks
4. 800 WPM, 3-4-word chunks
5. 900 WPM, 2-word chunks
6. 1,000 WPM, 1-word chunks
*the "sonic barrier"
My logic, such as it is at this stage, is to gain familiarity with the passage at the slowest necessary speed for comprehension (which would at times need to be as slow as 400 WPM), without the need for peripheral vision. Increasing word chunk sizes forces the stretching of peripheral vision, but the words flash by at a slower rate so it creates the illusion of actually slowing down. After crossing the sonic barrier, I would play with the high hundreds at different chunk sizes, winding down to the super-stream of 1,000 WPM and blasting it all into my conscious at twice the original speed.
Now here is a different experience! Traditional speed reading techniques with a physical book require proportional physical activity on the part of the reader: you have to hold the book down, move the pen your your hand rapidly, and move your eyes across the page. This does all that for you! allowing the reader to limit his training to information-absorption velocity and peripheral vision training.
It really is a trip. After the first time having a thousand-word data stream beamed into your brain in under two minutes, I was blown back in my seat! I felt like Neo from the Matrix: "Holy s---!" "I'm a machine," I laughed to myself.
Blinking is not advised! In seriousness, I do try to wink one eye at a time so I don't miss any words, especially at super-high speed. Occasionally I've cranked it up to 1,200 WPM to see if I get it at Kennedy-speed. If I had already read the article once (or several times), I usually got it all! Again the epistemological argument: am I just remembering quickly or really comprehending in-time?
Unfortunately, changing the Spreeder settings on an iPhone is kind of dodgy since the inferface was designed for a mouse, but in iPad it seems to work pretty well thanks to the larger screen real estate (but the slider doesn't seem to react to touch). Eager to find an iPhone specific app, I shelled out $10 for the ReadQuick app, which would seem to do the same thing as Spreeder.com. I was disappointed. It's basically just an idealized interface for the iPhone (and also iPad), exept you can't copy and paste; you have to go to URLs directly (meaning you also can't search like in a browser). Not worth it, in my opinion. It functions great for what it is, but Spreeder does the job better and freer.
SPREEDER EXPEPRIENCE COMMENTARY
Spreeder is truly a revolutionary training tool. Just knowing that the brain is absorbing passages beyond the sonic barrier boosts confidence tremendously.
As subvocalization is to be avoided, I'm still trying to ascertain exactly what the desired state of consciousness is for high-speed reading. That is, I'm not supposed to be "hearing" the words in my head, right? As I mentioned in the first post, I've always enjoyed imagining the words I read in the author's or character's voice, or in my own, colorfully spoken and interesting to "listen" to. When I see the words flashing by, I'm still able to hear my imagined voice for Thomas Jefferson (based on the voice of the character from the HBO miniseries John Adams), and nevertheless seem to comprehend everything with equally vivid mental pictures. I'm not sure if this is the right thing or not. Many speed reading guides strongly advise against this, encouraging the reader to hum or count 1-2-3-4 just to turn off the subvocalization reflex. A curious effect for me is that, if I discourage this subvocal mental sound entirely, I hear in the background a song that I didn't even realize was stuck in my head. It's really quite amazing. I listen to music often, so I can't say I'm suprised that I might perpetually have a track bopping around in my subconscious, but it was a little distracting at first. Playing instrumental classical music helps to temper that overactive part of my mind, but generally I've just gotten used to it and can ignore it well enough to concentrate on the material.
Rather than hear words in the head, the instantaneous generation of images is recommended. I don't find this intuitive yet, but I'll keep at it. Otherwise, although I might be reading a passage with Spreeder at a WPM well past the sonic barrier, I still hear the chosen voice at the compressed speed.
The next post will conclude the past week's backstory and bring us into the present, with the best app and speed reading training tool I've yet found!
(The below is copied from this link: http://touch.artofmanliness.com/artofmanliness/#!/entry/how-to-speed-read-like-theodore-roosevelt,502ecf26444f6789471f2dcb )
*****
How to Speed Read Like Theodore Roosevelt
When Theodore Roosevelt did things, he did them with gusto. That included reading. Roosevelt was a voracious reader. The man devoured books like a damn hungry lion feasting on a fresh kill. While in the White House, he would read a book every day before breakfast. If he didn’t have any official business in the evening, he would read two or three more books plus any magazines and newspapers that caught his fancy. By his own estimates, TR read tens of thousands of books during his lifetime, including hundreds in foreign languages.How to Speed Read Like Theodore Roosevelt
Roosevelt accomplished this feat because he knew how to speed read. Associates said he would would flip through two or three pages in a minute. Despite reading so quickly, Roosevelt could relate back in minute detail all of a book’s important points and even recite quotes from the text.
Being able to plow through so many books so quickly benefited TR’s leadership and influence. He easily connected with others as he could hold a conversation with anyone on any subject imaginable. Scientists were blown away with Roosevelt’s knowledge of complex theories, socialites were smitten with his witty insights about the latest piece by Oscar Wilde, and cowboys out West respected the “Eastern Dude’s” understanding of desert wildlife. TR’s life as a bionic book worm also provided plenty of grist for the 2,000 published works he turned out himself.
In this post we provide some suggestions and tips so you can start speeding reading just like Theodore Roosevelt. Are you ready to start devouring books with your brain? Let’s get started!
How to Speed Read
Stop subvocalizing by counting.When we learned to read, we usually read aloud and pronounced every single word that we saw in a line. This slows reading down considerably because you can only read as fast as you can talk. While you may long ago have graduated from Hooked on Phonics and transitioned to reading silently, you probably still subvocalize. Subvocalization is when you pronounce words with the voice in your head or larynx. You might even open your mouth silently as you read, sort of like a guppy (I do this sometimes and my wife makes fun of me for it).
Quitting the subvocalization habit can be hard. First try simply reading faster than your mouth can move or the voice in your head can speak. If that doesn’t work, try this technique: Repeatedly say “A-E-I-O-U” or count “1, 2, 3, 4″ as you read the text. This will help train you to stop reading with your larynx and guppy lips and start reading with your eyes. This little trick can increase your speed in a matter of minutes.
Stop backtracking by using your finger. Backtracking slows many readers down. After reading a word, a person will read two or three more words, but then dart their eyes back to the first word. You probably do this without even realizing it. Watch someone read. You’ll see their eyes darting back and forth. Chances are they’re re-reading the same line over again.
To help you stop backtracking, use your index finger as a pace car. Underline the text with your finger at a pace faster than you normally read. Only look at the text in front of your finger; once you pass it with your finger, you can’t go back.
Use your peripheral vision. Your brain can comprehend several words at a time. You don’t have to read every single word by itself. The key with speed reading is to start reading multiple words at a time instead of just one at a time. To read chunks of text at a time, you need to start developing your peripheral vision. Here’s how:
Take a book and draw two parallel lines about three inches apart from each other down the middle of the text. Concentrate on the area between the lines and try not to move your eyes outside of them. See if you can catch the words beyond the lines in your peripheral vision. Being able to indirectly read words in this way will greatly increase your reading speed.
Another thing you can do to get in the habit of reading text in big chunks is to practice speed reading with newspapers. Newspaper columns typically measure 1.83 inches. You can only fit five to six words in that small space, thus providing you the perfect platform to master reading text by the chunk. Instead of reading word by word, try reading line by line. It takes some practice, but you’ll find yourself breezing through the local story about the cat that got stuck on the roof in a matter of seconds.
Train your eyes with free web apps. Several free web applications exist that help users stop backtracking and train their eyes and mind to read more than one word a time. Spreeder is my favorite. Simply copy and paste the text you want to speed read into Spreeder. Spreeder will then flash chunks of your text on the screen until it goes through the entire text. You can decide how many words Spreeder will show at a time and how fast you want the words to appear. I actually used Spreeder during law school to help me quickly read through cases. Not only was I able to get through assigned reading faster, I trained myself to stop backtracking and subvocalizing as well.
Try the z method. The idea that reading must be done linearly is a myth. Your mind is pretty dang amazing, and it can actually process and understand stuff even if you read it backwards. Take advantage of this by employing the z method. Basically the way this works is you start off on the first line and read it normally- left to right. Of course you’re not subvocalizing, and you’re not making any unneeded stops. When you get to the end of the first line, sweep your eyes from right to left diagonally across the second line until you get to the beginning of line three. Repeat this z pattern down the page.
You’d think you’d miss information by simply scanning across every other line backwards and diagonally. But try it for yourself. With practice, your brain will be able to pick up information backwards and in the periphery. Pretty dang amazing.
Know when to skim and scan. In addition to reading quickly, Roosevelt looked for places where he could skim and scan. In a letter to his son Kermit about the best way to read Dickens, Roosevelt said: “The wise thing to do is simply to skip the bosh and twaddle and vulgarity and untruth, and get the benefit out of the rest.” We can follow that advice for most things we read.
Not every word is important when conveying an idea. For example, articles like “a,” “an,” and “the” can be eliminated from most text, and you can still understand what is written. With practice you can train yourself to look over these unnecessary words and focus on the meaty stuff.
Another thing you can do to help focus on keywords is to skim through the book’s table of contents and section headings so you have a general idea of what the section is about. This will prime your brain to be on the look out for words related to the topic when you actually start reading.
Of course, the pleasure of some books is the masterful whole, the entirety of language and the author’s carefully selected words and purposefully constructed sentences. The joy of such literature comes in soaking up the text precisely as intended. In such cases, it’s best to slow down and take it in.
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