3 ms·

To me it isn't just about comprehension either. When I read I think about what I'm reading. I'll often stop mid-page or even mid-sentence to think about related

To me it isn't just about comprehension either. When I read I think about what I'm reading. I'll often stop mid-page or even mid-sentence to think about related subjects or past experiences that have some connection to what I've just read. It takes me longer than other people I know to read something, but I'm far from the slowest at it, and to me, reading is (or at least can be) a deeper experience than just an info dump into my brain. I'm sure some of it is ADHD or something but to me, reading is about ideas and I can't wait until the end of a book or even the end of a long article without playing around with them. Especially if it's a topic I'm interested in. Even if speed readers can fully comprehend and retain what they've sped over, I can't help but feel that they're probably missing something.

btilly 2y ago
Here's what's weird. I can read a book faster than I can "digest" it. I first learned my reading speed by accident after I read Clan of the Cave Bear in a single sitting. Immediately afterwards I could not summarize it, though I could recognize any passage in the book. The next day, I could summarize it. I describe it as feeling like I have a pipeline. I'm able to fill my brain. Digestion is indeed slower.
- lproven 2y ago
  Exactly so. As a kid, at once 2 month period, I only had access to a library for a few hours on Sunday afternoons and no other time. I could not remove books. So I read as much as I could in that time window. 5, 6, 7 books in 2 or 3 hours. Then I'd spend the next 6 days going through them in my head and enjoying them.
  - veidr 2y ago
    Man! I didn't remember it until reading your comment, but I had the same experience in elementary school — obligatory time in the school, with access to books, but only while I was there, after finishing whatever trivial tasks were assigned. Alas, the selection was quite lacking. So although I voraciously consumed dozens of "Hardy Boys" novels, the subsequent days were filled with irritating thoughts about how stupid they were.... perhaps the inverse of your experience. Nevertheless, while I was trapped there, it seemed much better than nothing! I still read books, and to me it seems obvious that most of the "experience" of reading plays out in the background in the days and weeks that follow (unfortunately, even if the book has little to offer — although as an adult I'm free to recogize that and move on to another book). P.S. Halfway through https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ministry_for_the_Future https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ministry_for_the_Future and it's a good one! Much better than reading about Chet Morton's old jalopy breaking down again just as the villains are escaping on bicycles... ;-P
- ruthmarx 2y ago
  Digesting is part of reading. So you're not reading that fast at all. Imagine if someone said they could eat super fast because they could shove food in their mouth fast, but still took a long time to chew and swallow. Same thing.
  - veidr 2y ago
    Well I think your analogy would be better if they could also chew and swallow rapidly, but then their digestive tract took inordinate time to process the meal... (^_^);
    - ruthmarx 2y ago
      That wouldn't be a better analog at all since it wouldn't be making the point I wanted to make, it would just be rephrasing what they stated using the same metaphor.

btilly 2y ago

Here's what's weird. I can read a book faster than I can "digest" it. I first learned my reading speed by accident after I read Clan of the Cave Bear in a single sitting. Immediately afterwards I could not summarize it, though I could recognize any passage in the book. The next day, I could summarize it. I describe it as feeling like I have a pipeline. I'm able to fill my brain. Digestion is indeed slower.

lproven 2y ago
Exactly so. As a kid, at once 2 month period, I only had access to a library for a few hours on Sunday afternoons and no other time. I could not remove books. So I read as much as I could in that time window. 5, 6, 7 books in 2 or 3 hours. Then I'd spend the next 6 days going through them in my head and enjoying them.
- veidr 2y ago
  Man! I didn't remember it until reading your comment, but I had the same experience in elementary school — obligatory time in the school, with access to books, but only while I was there, after finishing whatever trivial tasks were assigned. Alas, the selection was quite lacking. So although I voraciously consumed dozens of "Hardy Boys" novels, the subsequent days were filled with irritating thoughts about how stupid they were.... perhaps the inverse of your experience. Nevertheless, while I was trapped there, it seemed much better than nothing! I still read books, and to me it seems obvious that most of the "experience" of reading plays out in the background in the days and weeks that follow (unfortunately, even if the book has little to offer — although as an adult I'm free to recogize that and move on to another book). P.S. Halfway through https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ministry_for_the_Future https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ministry_for_the_Future and it's a good one! Much better than reading about Chet Morton's old jalopy breaking down again just as the villains are escaping on bicycles... ;-P
ruthmarx 2y ago
Digesting is part of reading. So you're not reading that fast at all. Imagine if someone said they could eat super fast because they could shove food in their mouth fast, but still took a long time to chew and swallow. Same thing.
- veidr 2y ago
  Well I think your analogy would be better if they could also chew and swallow rapidly, but then their digestive tract took inordinate time to process the meal... (^_^);
  - ruthmarx 2y ago
    That wouldn't be a better analog at all since it wouldn't be making the point I wanted to make, it would just be rephrasing what they stated using the same metaphor.