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How to read books better
If you are here at TPM you probably read a lot. So any improvement on your reading has potential for exponential returns.
I like investing in systems with exponential returns :) , and I like testing, so I've tried a few things.
What doesn't work: speed reading using "Rapid Serial Visual Presentation"
Wikipedia citing real scientific studies
Some checking: it's true that saccadic movements take time and that you can avoid those by centering the words on the page and keeping a constant pace.
Sounds legit :)
But it fails in practice.
I measured myself reading normally and with their tools. The reading speed was the same. I'm either a fast reader or their claims are not true.
The reality is simpler: by reading from a mobile phone screen, you are already saving saccadic movements, because the screen is so narrow. This is also why internet marketers use a narrow column of text in their 'ridiculously long' sales pages. With highlighter, different fonts etc to keep attention and keep you scrolling.
The idea:
Researchers from Carnegie Mellon have found that as many as 12 words per second are readable in controlled situations (720wpm).[1] Further research has shown that for shorter pieces of text, RSVP formats increased reading speed by 33% with no significant differences in comprehension or task load.[2]
Example tool: spreeder.com
Speed reading is normally done at a rate of around 400-700 wpm. Anything above 500-600 wpm means sacrificing comprehension, although this varies from person to person.
Footnote: it's important to test claims, more so if the test is simple like reading with and without the tool and timing yourself!
What works
Don't read the entire book
How to read a book. Read it and do what it says
Bionic reading, a system to keep your attention on page for longer
I waited till I read 3 books with this system before writing about it. Here tests are harder because the claims are 'not as grandiose' and not as specific as with speed reading.
Bionic reading is a free tool that brings an enhanced reading experience to your current e-reading device or app. It will help you read faster and comprehend more
https://ebookfriendly.com/bionic-reading-things-to-know/
Bionic reading facilitates the reading process by guiding the eyes through text with artificial fixation points. To make it short: some parts of the words are displayed in bold text.
▸ As a result, you are focusing on the highlighted text (usually initial letters of the words) and your brain completes the rest. It saves time, because your brain “reads” faster than your eyes.
How do we test this?
Well, I read 3 books and I felt like I stayed on task longer and avoided moving away from reading.
I also felt less fatigue, but this is very subjective.
It's super easy to test, just upload a book to https://api.bionic-reading.com/convert/ and download it again with the bolding applied.
Read for a bit, and see if it feels better. It did for me. But I'd still recommend you should not believe any claim till you try it and see that it works for you
You gotta love a systematizer/entrepreneur's approach to things :).
Thank you for sharing this, LOF!
It does seem "off" to have random letters in bold to be honest because I'm used to bold being used for the most important sentences.
But if you say it worked for you, it's probably worth a try.
P.S.:
Speed reading of "sticking to the middle" also didn't work too well for me (albeit, same as you, I suspect I may have learned to read fast over time by myself).
And for those who are interested, there's also a summary of "How to Read A Book" here on TPM, plus a category for "learning tools".
Quick update on this. While I was using bionic reading and believing it was having an effect I found an article that shows the effect is tiny, and perhaps negative. Good that someone actually ran an experiment!
Here it is:
https://blog.readwise.io/bionic-reading-results/
After analyzing data from 2,074 testers, we found no evidence that Bionic Reading has any positive effect on reading speed. In fact, participants read 2.6 words per minute slower on average with Bionic Reading than without. That said, the difference here is so small (less than 1%), that the real takeaway is Bionic Reading has no impact on reading speed.
Comments:
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32152051
Previous comments when the technique emerged into mainstream:
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30787290
So I retract my recommendation of bionic reading and I'm sorry if I made you waste time uploading/downloading files to the site.
Thank you for the update, LOF.
I guess that also goes to show that data and science do are useful to make good decisions :).
