[extropy-chat] Self-Enhncmnt: data acquisition at high speed

[David Lubkin]

At 03:07 PM 1/21/2004 -0800, Robert J. Bradbury wrote:

>Normal reading speed is perhaps 240 wpm (though this was from the net, not 
>the GBoR so ByrBwr).
>         :
>Now, speed reading is great (though I would question the 2000 wpm number
>as another source said only 1000 wpm -- which is closer to high speed
>listening capabilities).

We had a thread on reading speed a few years ago. A lot of people chimed in 
with their data points. Few on the list were as slow as that 240 wpm mark. 
I'd expect that peak reading speed is correlated with IQ given that 
response times for elementary tasks seem to give the best measure of IQ. On 
this list, I'd guess the least impressive participant would have no problem 
passing Mensa's 1:50 threshold (2 SD); the list median is at least 1:1000 
(3 SD).

Although obviously some people are brilliant but read slowly. SF writer 
Samuel R. Delany is a great example. He's dyslexic, and reading remains 
torturous. Chip says that's why he loves poetry -- it has the highest 
information density.

I peak at a little over a second a page, or around 12,000 wpm. It's too 
exhausting to continue for long, and no fun, but useful in a pinch. My 
sustainable rate is still quite high though. There's no way that an 
auditory input can compete. Also, I learn *much* better visually, so even 
if the rates were identical, comprehension would not be. And reading, you 
can scan, skim, skip, repeat, and compare easily. Hard to do that 
listening. Not to mention pictures and charts....


-- David Lubkin.