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This has gotten me into a lot of trouble in my life. I don't use internal monologue to read - that means that I can be reading and listening to someone at the s

This has gotten me into a lot of trouble in my life. I don't use internal monologue to read - that means that I can be reading and listening to someone at the same time, and comprehend both. But, even if I can prove I heard and understood everything someone said, they inevitably view it as rude if I am reading something while listening to them.

jhayward 7y ago
I used to get in so much trouble for this in primary/secondary school. Listening to someone talk was boring beyond belief. So I read sci-fi in class. I could always respond correctly when called upon, and could recite virtually word-for-word the entire class lecture if need be, so I eventually got a pass to just do my thing. At this great distance in time I can see how this was impolite to say the least. But, really, it was bordering on abuse to make me sit there and listen with nothing else to keep my mind occupied.
- rendall 7y ago
  Interesting. Do you program? If so, can you at the same time both program and comprehend, say, an audibook or podcast? Or even talk to someone? A colleague told me once that he listened to podcasts while programming and I found that intriguing but baffling. I can do it but only if my task is rote, and I have to turn the podcast off if I'm truly concentrating.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
irjustin 7y ago
Is this a left/right brain split specific thing or is there another thing going on? ever explore it? I can do neither of these things. One voice dominates, self speaking, reading, listening to another person talk to me - the rest of them get 'left behind'.
- fouc 7y ago
  The trick is to read without sounding out the words in your head. Then since you're not thinking in speech when reading, you have room to listen.
  - irjustin 7y ago
    Hrm... I'll have to try it. When I speed read I shut down the internal monologue, but if someone was talking to me I'm skeptical I'd be able to read effectively still, but maybe I'm being too negative. I'll give it a try.
  - etrk 7y ago
    I’d heard that this is, to some extent, impossible, because everybody subvocalizes when they read. Wikipedia supports this, but I guess the goal is to minimize subvocalization rather than to eliminate it completely? “Micro-muscle tests suggest that full and permanent elimination of subvocalizing is impossible.” I know this is true for me. If I press the tongue to the roof of my mouth while reading, I can’t stop the muscles from moving very slightly as I read.
    - jdbernard 7y ago
      Sometimes I wonder how many things we've "proven" because our studies aren't large enough to observe all the edge cases. I sometimes wish I could contact the researchers and volunteer myself as a counter-example. I haven't hooked myself up to electrodes and measured nerve response, but as far as I can tell I don't subvocalise when I read. I can also turn off my internal monologue; I don't have to hear the words in my head as I read them though I typically do.
    - kazarnowicz 7y ago
      I tried this when reading Ready Player One (I counted to eight in my head to stop vocalizing). I did read it much faster (in fact, faster than my partner who is a native English speaker/reader). I cannot vouch for how much I remember of the book though. I think it's less, because I remember watching the movie thinking "oh, right, that's what happened" about a major plot part. That's never happened with other books that I first read, then watched the movie/series adaptation of.

jhayward 7y ago

I used to get in so much trouble for this in primary/secondary school. Listening to someone talk was boring beyond belief. So I read sci-fi in class. I could always respond correctly when called upon, and could recite virtually word-for-word the entire class lecture if need be, so I eventually got a pass to just do my thing. At this great distance in time I can see how this was impolite to say the least. But, really, it was bordering on abuse to make me sit there and listen with nothing else to keep my mind occupied.

rendall 7y ago
Interesting. Do you program? If so, can you at the same time both program and comprehend, say, an audibook or podcast? Or even talk to someone? A colleague told me once that he listened to podcasts while programming and I found that intriguing but baffling. I can do it but only if my task is rote, and I have to turn the podcast off if I'm truly concentrating.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]

irjustin 7y ago

Is this a left/right brain split specific thing or is there another thing going on? ever explore it? I can do neither of these things. One voice dominates, self speaking, reading, listening to another person talk to me - the rest of them get 'left behind'.

fouc 7y ago
The trick is to read without sounding out the words in your head. Then since you're not thinking in speech when reading, you have room to listen.
- irjustin 7y ago
  Hrm... I'll have to try it. When I speed read I shut down the internal monologue, but if someone was talking to me I'm skeptical I'd be able to read effectively still, but maybe I'm being too negative. I'll give it a try.
- etrk 7y ago
  I’d heard that this is, to some extent, impossible, because everybody subvocalizes when they read. Wikipedia supports this, but I guess the goal is to minimize subvocalization rather than to eliminate it completely? “Micro-muscle tests suggest that full and permanent elimination of subvocalizing is impossible.” I know this is true for me. If I press the tongue to the roof of my mouth while reading, I can’t stop the muscles from moving very slightly as I read.
  - jdbernard 7y ago
    Sometimes I wonder how many things we've "proven" because our studies aren't large enough to observe all the edge cases. I sometimes wish I could contact the researchers and volunteer myself as a counter-example. I haven't hooked myself up to electrodes and measured nerve response, but as far as I can tell I don't subvocalise when I read. I can also turn off my internal monologue; I don't have to hear the words in my head as I read them though I typically do.
  - kazarnowicz 7y ago
    I tried this when reading Ready Player One (I counted to eight in my head to stop vocalizing). I did read it much faster (in fact, faster than my partner who is a native English speaker/reader). I cannot vouch for how much I remember of the book though. I think it's less, because I remember watching the movie thinking "oh, right, that's what happened" about a major plot part. That's never happened with other books that I first read, then watched the movie/series adaptation of.