> People read 11% slower for every 20 years they age. How can this be anywhere near a useful or accurate statistic? Surely the rates depend on the age, and the

> People read 11% slower for every 20 years they age. How can this be anywhere near a useful or accurate statistic? Surely the rates depend on the age, and there’s likely space for significant improvement in someone’s 20s. I can read in the neighborhood of 750wpm with good comprehension while verbalizing. I’m pretty sure I never was able to read at 900wpm no matter how many years you go back. I don’t think there’s been any meaningful drop at all in the past 20 years. Further, in the next 20 years I wouldn’t be surprised if my reading speed took a huge hit, say 30%-50% (or more.) Even if that averaged out to 10% per year, it would be a misleading statistic. That’s also ignoring comprehension and reading level. At 30, I could focus throughout tearing through a Homeric epic and retain a huge amount about the text, including themes, symbolism, metaphors of note, etc. I couldn’t do anything like that at 20, even if my raw reading speed was faster.