7 ms·

Theodore Roosevelt read two books a day and could recite quotations from them years later. The average TV in the US is on 6 hours per day. Would you rather be

Theodore Roosevelt read two books a day and could recite quotations from them years later. The average TV in the US is on 6 hours per day. Would you rather be the average American or Theodore Roosevelt?

j_baker 17y ago
The average American. Theodore Roosevelt is dead after all. :-)
- Qz 17y ago
  Except that we remember his name, whereas the average American remains nameless.
  - ajscherer 17y ago
    Lets ask him how much better that makes him feel.
    - Qz 17y ago
      You don't think you would be a little happier knowing that when you die your name will still be written in history books for decades or centuries to come?
      - ajscherer 17y ago
        No, I don't think so. That doesn't seem to fall into any of the categories of things that have made me happy. I've accomplished a few things that I think "should" make me happy, but for whatever reason I don't feel any lasting difference as a result. Most things that have made me happier either gave me pleasure directly, or were the negation of something that was causing me stress.
tomjen3 17y ago
He was also one of the original war mongers. Considering that, I would prefer the average American.
Tycho 17y ago
Two books a day? How's that possible? Say each book is 300 pages and he reads 30 pages an hour (generous). It would typically take 20 hours to finish two books. That leaves 4 hours to sleep, eat, wash, and do his job. Oh but he read really fast? That's just about as useful as watching a movie in fast-forward.
- bmcleod 17y ago
  Reading is something you get significantly faster at by doing it a lot. You recognise words you are familiar with much faster etc. Expect anyone who reads a lot to go at at least a page per minute with full comprehension. Speed Readers often read with reasonable comprehension at 3 times that rate. Things that pop out as being quotable are generally pretty apparent if you read a lot simply because they'll be new and somehow interesting.
  - Tycho 17y ago
    It just strikes me as a terrible way to read. To continue the analogy, I could watch a movie in fast forward and still work out what was going on and what the notable scenes were ("gosh, they're chasing him through the sewers of Vienna!"). But I wouldn't have experienced the art of the film whatsoever. Reading faster is more difficult, but similarly unhelpful. I realized a long time ago that there was literally no point trying to speed up my reading pace, and nothing to be gained from speed reading. You need to give your imagination time to explore the detail and connotations of the descriptions, not merely the meaning of the words. Otherwise you're just as well reading the cliff-notes.

j_baker 17y ago

The average American. Theodore Roosevelt is dead after all. :-)

Qz 17y ago
Except that we remember his name, whereas the average American remains nameless.
- ajscherer 17y ago
  Lets ask him how much better that makes him feel.
  - Qz 17y ago
    You don't think you would be a little happier knowing that when you die your name will still be written in history books for decades or centuries to come?
    - ajscherer 17y ago
      No, I don't think so. That doesn't seem to fall into any of the categories of things that have made me happy. I've accomplished a few things that I think "should" make me happy, but for whatever reason I don't feel any lasting difference as a result. Most things that have made me happier either gave me pleasure directly, or were the negation of something that was causing me stress.

tomjen3 17y ago

He was also one of the original war mongers. Considering that, I would prefer the average American.

Tycho 17y ago

Two books a day? How's that possible? Say each book is 300 pages and he reads 30 pages an hour (generous). It would typically take 20 hours to finish two books. That leaves 4 hours to sleep, eat, wash, and do his job. Oh but he read really fast? That's just about as useful as watching a movie in fast-forward.

bmcleod 17y ago
Reading is something you get significantly faster at by doing it a lot. You recognise words you are familiar with much faster etc. Expect anyone who reads a lot to go at at least a page per minute with full comprehension. Speed Readers often read with reasonable comprehension at 3 times that rate. Things that pop out as being quotable are generally pretty apparent if you read a lot simply because they'll be new and somehow interesting.
- Tycho 17y ago
  It just strikes me as a terrible way to read. To continue the analogy, I could watch a movie in fast forward and still work out what was going on and what the notable scenes were ("gosh, they're chasing him through the sewers of Vienna!"). But I wouldn't have experienced the art of the film whatsoever. Reading faster is more difficult, but similarly unhelpful. I realized a long time ago that there was literally no point trying to speed up my reading pace, and nothing to be gained from speed reading. You need to give your imagination time to explore the detail and connotations of the descriptions, not merely the meaning of the words. Otherwise you're just as well reading the cliff-notes.