Speed Reading & Reading Comprehension

What if I said "I can show you how to improve your reading speed and increase comprehension level at the same time." You'd want to do it, right?

What if I said "You'll be able to read 3 times as much as you do now, without spending any extra time. And, you'll be able to understand the content much better as well." Once again, you want this.

What if I told you "You will find out what it's like to have an unreasonable advantage over everyone else." Yep, you're definitely still paying attention.

But what if I said... "I can show you how to speed read."

WHAMMO!

Misconceptions, fallacies, myths, and false impressions come flying in from everywhere.

I've seriously tried talking to some people about speed reading, and it's like talking to rocks. Either that, or they just try to be nice and act all passive/submissive on me.

They say stuff like "Speed reading?? You speed read?? What a waste of time... Why don't you read like a regular person?"

Or - if some doofus decides he should just pretend he believes me, and at the same time ignore everything I say - he might try something like "Oh okay..."

And I'm left thinking... "What do you mean?"

Whether I try to show how many extra books I get to read, or how easy school/university has become, or how much I enjoy epic novels, I get the same response. Even if I try to explain the basics of speed reading so that they can get started, the response is basically always disappointing - no one gets it.

This has led me to believe that not very many people really understand speed reading. They think it's a scam, a joke, or - what bugs me the most - they think it's ineffective. So that's why I'm writing this. This is for YOU. Because I want YOU to read more, so that you can be smarter, more productive, and so that you can stop being a slow-reading monkey-doofus that can't think for itself.

I sincerely believe that if I can just show you how to speed read, you'll read more. The amount you read right now is limited by your reading speed, because you only have a certain amount of time you can devote to reading websites, newspapers, and books.

The problem with slow reading is that reading is the main way people intake their information. It's the way we gather knowledge and learn. We read magazines, websites, newspapers, instructions booklets, pamphlets, articles, reports, textbooks, signs, letters, and everything else that's in writing. It is everything to us, when it comes to becoming informed.

Speed reading is possibly up there in the list of the most useful things for an adult to learn - because it can save loads of time. Once you know how to speed read, you'll be reading titles at a glance, and full-length articles in half the time. You'll be smarter, more productive, more informed, a quicker-thinker, and best of all, you'll be able to read whatever you want without being held back by your reading speed.

So please, learn how to speed read.

Speed reading is a big deal. If you know how to speed read, you can learn just about anything - it just has to be in writing. Which makes me wonder why people don't read more...

I read a lot - in subways, busses, while walking, and even as a hobby at home. Sometimes, someone I know "catches" me reading, and they say to me, they say: "Why are you reading?"

And they say it as if reading were the stupidest thing I could do. And I get questions like that a lot! "Why are you always reading?" "Why do you read so much" "Why do you like reading"

Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one who understands how useful reading is. Nearly everything that you could possibly want to know is already written down.
People especially seem to avoid libraries - as if books aren't useful anymore since the internet came around. As if Charles Dickens' books aren't worth reading. As if you can't learn anything anymore. Well guess what? Books are awesome.

Think of a problem you might have right now. Let's pretend you have an organization issue - you know your desk or your room is messy, and you have a problem following thorough on actually cleaning it and keeping it clean.

Well what if you read 4 or 5 books on organization and neatness. Isn't it possible that you could learn something there that could help you out with your problem? You don't have to re-invent the wheel and restructure your entire life just to keep yourself organized, you can just read a book on it. Someone else has already figured out the solution to your problem.

There are books and websites specifically written for nearly every single topic imaginable. The Internet is source of nearly infinite information. Most newspapers now have a website. There are thousands of reports available free. There are searchable encyclopedias available. There are how-to guides on just about everything. And, of course, there's Wikipedia.

But people ignore it and they think of it as a waste of time to actually sit down and learn something. Well guess what? If you're interested in the topic, learning can be not only valuable but thrilling as well. No one said you have to whip out that article on "Advanced Functions in Mathematics", or find out what goes on "Behind the Scenes in a History-Channel Broadcast". All you have to do is read more.

I mean HOLY COW, PEOPLE! You have a whole world of information in front of you.

Of course, there's this too, though: books are wonderfully useful, but only if the gains from the books are worth the time you put into reading them.

In other words, reading a book on "How to Stick Postage Stamps On Your Mail Faster" might save you a few minutes here and there, but if the book takes you 6 hours to read... it wouldn't be very good, would it?

But try this scenario: if you had a book on "Productivity" that could save you 5 hours a week - which is a lot - but you had to invest 10 hours to read the book, you probably wouldn't read the book right away. It would be valuable, you know that, but you can't spare 10 hours just yet.

That's where speed reading can help. If you start speed reading, you can read more of what you want, and you'll understand it just as well - if not better. If you have a book you would like to read, then you should definitely read it. Your reading speed doesn't have to hold you back any longer.

When you learn how to speed read, books, websites, and generally everything in some type of text format will become more valuable to you. You'll read more, you'll find out more beautiful things, and you'll enjoy it. I promise.

So please, for your own sake, learn how to speed read.

Speed reading is tremendously valuable. You won't even understand just how great it is until you try it out for yourself.

Like I mentioned before, a lot of people simply DON'T GET IT. They REFUSE to get it. I don't really know why. Maybe they're afraid of change. Maybe they're too jealous to give in. Maybe they're just made up of 100% doofus.

So, I'm begging all of you to go out and read some more books. Because the intelligence level right now, the way it is, just doesn't cut it. Reading will help that.