Little Known Facts....

queen bess wrote:

THX1138 wrote:I've suffered from insomnia for almost eight months now - I get at most four hours a sleep a night and then once every two weeks I crash for like 14 to 16 hours. I'm pretty sure that's not good for me.

RM

welcome to our club... members get coffee and cookies...

Ahhh another one joins the mix I see. At this rate we're going to need to get an extra coffee pot.

I bring my own, I prefer percolated over drip - DB says I'm a coffee snob but I don't see it. lol.

RM

THX1138 wrote:I bring my own, I prefer percolated over drip - DB says I'm a coffee snob but I don't see it. lol.

RM

Now THX, that's not polite to misrepresent me like that. I might have been thinking snob, but I told y'all that "you're connoisseurs"!

*and I want you to see that I spelled that fancy $3 word correctly too!*

LKF ... I drink McDonald's coffee or Folger's crystals - with cream and sugar!

I love folk music.
and I am a cappuccino junkie.

THX1138 wrote:I bring my own, I prefer percolated over drip - DB says I'm a coffee snob but I don't see it. lol.

RM

heehee, me too. my coffee percolator has Tim's in it right now.

I drink my coffee black... it freaks out the boys for some reason lol.

THX1138 wrote:Ty, ty, feels good to be among the night owls - just point me to the coffee maker and oatmeal raisin if you please.

GOOOOD choice!! i make a mean oatmeal raisin...

I never have understood how people can speed read stories. I read a story to myself at about the same speed that I would read it to someone else. In my mind I kind of equate speed reading stories to taking a super speed tour through a museum of art. I mean, how can you even see it, let alone appreciate it?

DBCrazy wrote:I never have understood how people can speed read stories. I read a story to myself at about the same speed that I would read it to someone else. In my mind I kind of equate speed reading stories to taking a super speed tour through a museum of art. I mean, how can you even see it, let alone appreciate it?

I speed read, in fact I have for literally decades now. When I was five my parents were told I had mentally disadvantaged (a polite way to say I was slow) because I was incapable of doing the reading work along with the rest of my classmates. They had me tested and it was found out that I wasn't slow at all, in fact I had a failry good IQ, what I also had was dyslexia. They hired a tutor who specialized in teaching dyslexic children and he not only taught me how to read, he taught me how to speed read.

The average person speaks at roughly 150 wpm, and reads around 200 wpm with a 60% retention rate. I read at about 400 wpm with an 85% retention rate, and if I re-read something a second time my speed goes up to almost 700 wpm. The big plus for me is I can read a 400+ page book in a day with minor interruptions, two days if I have to deal with work, etc. That's not to say I always read that fast. I can slow down how quickly I read, and I often do when I want to really, really savor something, but just because I'm not doens't mean I don't get the full effect.


RM

THX1138 wrote:

DBCrazy wrote:I never have understood how people can speed read stories. I read a story to myself at about the same speed that I would read it to someone else. In my mind I kind of equate speed reading stories to taking a super speed tour through a museum of art. I mean, how can you even see it, let alone appreciate it?

I speed read, in fact I have for literally decades now. When I was five my parents were told I had mentally disadvantaged (a polite way to say I was slow) because I was incapable of doing the reading work along with the rest of my classmates. They had me tested and it was found out that I wasn't slow at all, in fact I had a failry good IQ, what I also had was dyslexia. They hired a tutor who specialized in teaching dyslexic children and he not only taught me how to read, he taught me how to speed read.

The average person speaks at roughly 150 wpm, and reads around 200 wpm with a 60% retention rate. I read at about 400 wpm with an 85% retention rate, and if I re-read something a second time my speed goes up to almost 700 wpm. The big plus for me is I can read a 400+ page book in a day with minor interruptions, two days if I have to deal with work, etc. That's not to say I always read that fast. I can slow down how quickly I read, and I often do when I want to really, really savor something, but just because I'm not doens't mean I don't get the full effect.


RM

Interesting. I wasn't trying to say that there's no way you can get the full effect of the story, simply that I can't comprehend it.

I get that, and I realize now I sounded a bit defensive and I'm not really sure why, maybe it's an offshoot of all the times I've had to explain that I'm dyslexic to someone - it's funny but it only becomes an issue for me when I'm working late on a project or rushing myself through something. Then all of a sudden the becomes teh, from becomes form, it may not seem like much but I've spent nearly 40 years teaching myself NOT to make those misakes so when I do, well, it's frustrating.

Anyway your original point was actually well placed. A lot of people take a speed reading seminar and walk away reading faster but not really getting anything out of that fact. In my case I read faster, retain more, but the truth is that when I'm reading for fun I slow down intentionally because I want to enjoy it. Does that make any sense?

RM

THX1138 wrote:I get that, and I realize now I sounded a bit defensive and I'm not really sure why, maybe it's an offshoot of all the times I've had to explain that I'm dyslexic to someone - it's funny but it only becomes an issue for me when I'm working late on a project or rushing myself through something. Then all of a sudden the becomes teh, from becomes form, it may not seem like much but I've spent nearly 40 years teaching myself NOT to make those misakes so when I do, well, it's frustrating.

Anyway your original point was actually well placed. A lot of people take a speed reading seminar and walk away reading faster but not really getting anything out of that fact. In my case I read faster, retain more, but the truth is that when I'm reading for fun I slow down intentionally because I want to enjoy it. Does that make any sense?

RM

that makes sense. I slow down sometimes.
Point is normally there isn't anything to slow down,
I am the slowest reader on the planet, you could say....

Rike wrote:

THX1138 wrote:I get that, and I realize now I sounded a bit defensive and I'm not really sure why, maybe it's an offshoot of all the times I've had to explain that I'm dyslexic to someone - it's funny but it only becomes an issue for me when I'm working late on a project or rushing myself through something. Then all of a sudden the becomes teh, from becomes form, it may not seem like much but I've spent nearly 40 years teaching myself NOT to make those misakes so when I do, well, it's frustrating.

Anyway your original point was actually well placed. A lot of people take a speed reading seminar and walk away reading faster but not really getting anything out of that fact. In my case I read faster, retain more, but the truth is that when I'm reading for fun I slow down intentionally because I want to enjoy it. Does that make any sense?

RM

that makes sense. I slow down sometimes.
Point is normally there isn't anything to slow down,
I am the slowest reader on the planet, you could say....

**I am the slowest reader on the planet, you could say..**


I doubt that, it took me about 4 hrs to read this thing.

seriously I envy anyone who can speed read and get full comprehension. I read fairly quickly, I'm told(I bug my wife and acquaintances to no end when we're trying to read something at the same time and I finish well ahead of them and start to comment on it before they're done) but I'm not THAT fast. And quite often have to read something more than once to glean everything i should from it.
I don't know what its like to have to deal with dyslexia on top of that. You got my respects bobby-Boo, it must be a ongoing struggle, but you seem to handle it well.

THX1138 wrote:I get that, and I realize now I sounded a bit defensive and I'm not really sure why, maybe it's an offshoot of all the times I've had to explain that I'm dyslexic to someone - it's funny but it only becomes an issue for me when I'm working late on a project or rushing myself through something. Then all of a sudden the becomes teh, from becomes form, it may not seem like much but I've spent nearly 40 years teaching myself NOT to make those misakes so when I do, well, it's frustrating.

Anyway your original point was actually well placed. A lot of people take a speed reading seminar and walk away reading faster but not really getting anything out of that fact. In my case I read faster, retain more, but the truth is that when I'm reading for fun I slow down intentionally because I want to enjoy it. Does that make any sense?

RM

It does make sense. I have what might be a cousin of dyslexia on the other end of the spectrum, the Proofreader's Curse! Maybe not such a good comparison, but it serves. Every little tittle out of place and I snag. I've come a long way in learning to let it go ... fanfic and chat boards like this one have helped me immensely, just because of the speed of it all - you want to just let it flow.

I can understand reading a manual quickly if you can - and to some degree I can skim something looking for important information to slow down and comprehend.

And the slowing down for fun is really what I was referring to all along. I don't think that even if I could read it quickly that I would be able to process the emotions and storyline and humor and that sort of stuff quickly. Being able to speed read and process a story seems to me like a super-hero power!

(BTW, in the jokes ! post 'em here topic (page 3 - betcha can read this!) I have something posted demonstrating just how agile the mind/eye really, really is when it comes to spelling. It blew me away when I saw it!)

PIMP wrote:

Rike wrote:

THX1138 wrote:I get that, and I realize now I sounded a bit defensive and I'm not really sure why, maybe it's an offshoot of all the times I've had to explain that I'm dyslexic to someone - it's funny but it only becomes an issue for me when I'm working late on a project or rushing myself through something. Then all of a sudden the becomes teh, from becomes form, it may not seem like much but I've spent nearly 40 years teaching myself NOT to make those misakes so when I do, well, it's frustrating.

Anyway your original point was actually well placed. A lot of people take a speed reading seminar and walk away reading faster but not really getting anything out of that fact. In my case I read faster, retain more, but the truth is that when I'm reading for fun I slow down intentionally because I want to enjoy it. Does that make any sense?

RM

that makes sense. I slow down sometimes.
Point is normally there isn't anything to slow down,
I am the slowest reader on the planet, you could say....

**I am the slowest reader on the planet, you could say..**


I doubt that, it took me about 4 hrs to read this thing.

seriously I envy anyone who can speed read and get full comprehension. I read fairly quickly, I'm told(I bug my wife and acquaintances to no end when we're trying to read something at the same time and I finish well ahead of them and start to comment on it before they're done) but I'm not THAT fast. And quite often have to read something more than once to glean everything i should from it.
I don't know what its like to have to deal with dyslexia on top of that. You got my respects bobby-Boo, it must be a ongoing struggle, but you seem to handle it well.

Thanks Pimp, but you know I'm so used to it now I don't notice it all that much. It's all about training your mind to a routine in how you read and write. The key to it all is repetition and volume - the more I read and the more I re-read the better it gets because it reinforces the learnt behaviour. The only issue I really have is when I'm tired or excited and then I slip, which can have interesting results. Every now and then I'll read something and my mind goes "huh?" and when I re-read it carefully the sentence or paragraph says something completely different. It makes reading more of a challenge, which is probably why I enjoy it so much.

RM

DBCrazy wrote:

THX1138 wrote:I get that, and I realize now I sounded a bit defensive and I'm not really sure why, maybe it's an offshoot of all the times I've had to explain that I'm dyslexic to someone - it's funny but it only becomes an issue for me when I'm working late on a project or rushing myself through something. Then all of a sudden the becomes teh, from becomes form, it may not seem like much but I've spent nearly 40 years teaching myself NOT to make those misakes so when I do, well, it's frustrating.

Anyway your original point was actually well placed. A lot of people take a speed reading seminar and walk away reading faster but not really getting anything out of that fact. In my case I read faster, retain more, but the truth is that when I'm reading for fun I slow down intentionally because I want to enjoy it. Does that make any sense?

RM

Interestingly I have what is seemingly the other end of the spectrum from dyslexia, the Proofreader's Curse! Maybe not such a good comparison, but it serves. Every little tittle out of place and I snag. I've come a long way in learning to just let it go ... and actually chat boards like this one have helped me immensely, just because of the speed of it all - you want to just let it flow.

I work with someone who has that same issue, he's the best damned quality assurance analyst we have, seriously. When I finish the 488 page monster (the policy document continues to grow *sigh*) I'll give it to him to read, I'll get it back in a week with about a gajillion mistakes to correct then give it back for a second proofing, the guy's a wonder at that stuff. So what you have is a real talent.

I can understand reading a manual quickly if you can - and to some degree I can skim something looking for important information to slow down and comprehend.

And the slowing down for fun is really what I was referring to all along. I don't think that even if I could read it quickly that I would be able to process the emotions and storyline and humor and that sort of stuff quickly.

(BTW, in the jokes ! post 'em here topic (page 3) I have something posted about how agile the mind/eye really, really is when it comes to spelling. It blew me away when I saw it.)

Heh, yeah I caught that and it confused the hell out of me at first because my mind was trying to resort the letters correctly and only then did I figure it out. Wild.

RM