Reading With the Right Brain: Read Faster by Reading Ideas Instead of Just Words (28 page)

Since real reading is comprehension, the speed of your real reading is the speed in which you are collecting information. Instead of words per minute (WPM), it would be more useful to think in terms of information per minute (IPM). IPM would be the speedometer that tells you how fast you are actually traveling, whereas WPM would be the tachometer that only tells you how fast your engine is spinning.

In other words, sometimes you would be reading at a high WPM over easy material, and at other times slowing down to a lower WPM to conceptualize a new idea. But your real IPM speed would actually be much more constant with a consistent flow of information per minute continually reaching your brain. The reason IPM is more stable is because it is generally determined by the speed your brain can process ideas.

But there is another factor which can affect WPM—language density. Not only does the amount of information in text vary, but the length of text needed to express this same information can also be longer or shorter.

An author can choose longer or shorter words to say roughly the same thing. He can use a "five dollar word rather than a fifty-cent word," as Mark Twain put it.

For example, an author could use the word "accomplish" when the word "do" would do, use the word "expenditure" for "cost," or use "fundamental" for "basic." When measuring pages per minute or standard word length per minute, it would seem that you were reading faster when longer words were used. However, you would really only be pedaling faster, not making any additional progress since your true information speed would be unchanged.

This is not to say whether longer or shorter words are better, since this depends on the author’s style and vocabulary. This is only to demonstrate that information speed is quite separate from “reading” speed and that even when your words per minute rate slows down, you are not necessarily “reading” any slower.

Language Speed

Another indication that information speed is more constant than word speed is the impact that different languages have on speaking speed. Each language has its own natural speed. When you listen to some languages, people often sound as if they are speaking very fast. This is because most languages are less dense than English, which means they require more syllables to communicate the same ideas.

French researchers at Lyon University constructed an interesting comparison of language density. They measured the total length of time and number of syllables per second it takes people speaking different languages to express the same sentences translated into their own languages.

The research study found that the average Spanish speaker speaks twenty-five percent more syllables per second than the average English speaker. But the same translated sentences still took about the same overall time to speak in each language. The Spanish language used more syllables to say the same thing, but they still communicated roughly the same amount of information per minute.

If you’ve ever listened to someone speaking Spanish, you may have thought they were speaking faster than what you are accustomed to hearing in English. They are… but still they aren’t
communicating
any faster.

For example, compare the following sentences in English and Spanish.

This is an example of text in English and Spanish. You can see how much longer Spanish is than English.

Este es un ejemplo de texto en Inglés y Español. Se puede ver cuánto tiempo más el español es de Inglés.

Each sentence says the same thing, and although the written sentences are similar in length (due to the strangeness of English spelling), the number of syllables is 30% longer in Spanish (35 syllables in Spanish vs. 27 in English). But each native speaker would still take about the same length of time to say the sentence.

Each language studied showed the same pattern—languages that used more syllables to express the same ideas were spoken at a higher rate of syllables per minute and higher density languages were spoken at a slower rate.

Two conclusions can be made from this:

1. Comprehension speed is more constant than language speed (IPM is more constant than WPM).
   
2. Comprehension determines speed—not only in reading but even in speech.
   

We apparently have a certain speed that we can comprehend information, and it’s that speed limit which determines both how fast we speak and how fast we read. This is just more evidence that to read faster, you must comprehend faster.

Fiction vs. Non-Fiction

Here’s a common lament: "Why would I want to read fiction faster? Wouldn’t I want to read it slowly in order to savor it?" Or there’s this: "How could I possibly read non-fiction faster? Wouldn’t I need to go slow in order to understand or remember it?" From these two comments, it seems like you can only read fast, if the book is not fiction… and not non-fiction!

As to fiction, yes, you may want to read this slower if you wish to savor the sounds of the language. In this case, you are more interested in reading as a performance—like reading poetry. If, however, you are reading to enjoy a story, then it wouldn’t make any more sense to read this story slowly than it would to “savor” a movie in slow-motion!

"But wait," I hear you saying, "I only want to read it at ‘regular’ speed!" Oh? Are you
sure
your current speed is
regular
and other speeds are not? There is no “right” speed. As long as you understand what you are reading, then you are reading at the right speed. It’s the speed of thought, not the speed of the clock, which determines your comprehension speed.

For example, have you ever noticed that what might have seemed like a long dream when you were sleeping actually occurred over a very short time? This is because time is relative, and the faster you think, the slower time appears to be. When you were dreaming, you were thinking faster and the dream events were happening faster than in “real” time. This shows not only that the experience of time is relative, but also that you are actually capable of much faster thinking than you may have realized.

The truth is, you
can
enjoy a book at faster speeds. In fact, faster speeds are even more enjoyable in some ways. This is because when you get to the middle of the book, you will still remember the beginning, and the whole book will tie together better.

Now, non-fiction. Yes, it is very true that you must often slow down to read non-fiction. In fact, you often need to come to a complete stop while you consider something fascinating that you have never considered before. But this is not reading; this is pondering—a very enjoyable activity on its own, but a special side benefit of non-fiction. Stopping to consider something is not reading; it’s more like sightseeing.

The one other step involved in reading non-fiction is the extra memory processing. If you are reading to learn something, then you need to do more than just understand it; you need to place it firmly in your memory where you can easily find it again. This is where information becomes knowledge. This step often takes time while you consider the different effects this new information has on your existing knowledge. What are all the connections and relationships to be considered? This too is not really a part of reading, but of organizing ideas after you read them and connecting them in new ways to create your own new ideas.

Not everything about non-fiction makes it slower to read though. There are some things about non-fiction which actually help you read faster. For one, non-fiction authors are often trying to convince you of something. This means an author will generally make a special effort to make his case logically and systematically, and extra effort put into the explanation can make it faster and easier to consume.

If you have the ability to read faster, you can always decide on your own what speed you prefer for fiction or non-fiction, but at least you will have the choice. The best reading speed is the fastest speed you can understand. There’s no way to go faster and no need to go slower than comprehension speed.

Internal Factors

There are factors other than the material itself which will affect your comprehension speed, and these must also be accommodated. These are internal speed variations—things that are unique to you and your current situation.

Your own mental processing abilities will change based on things such as the time of day, your mood, or external and internal distractions. Although these factors come from within you, you don’t really have much control over them except to recognize them and take them into account.

The best you can do is to be patient with yourself. You must allow yourself to be able to assimilate the information you read. If you are finding this difficult to do, then you must slow down. You almost have to be Zen-like in your reading, letting the information come to you. This does not mean reading words and just seeing what ideas come along. It means to visualize, and focus on conceptualizing, and let the text choose the speed. Relax and engage your imagination, forgetting about speed and immersing yourself in the information.

In my experience, this is the hardest part of reading faster
—
to stop concentrating on speed. It is natural to want to push your speed, and in fact this is what most speed reading courses recommend, that you push your speed as fast as you can. They even give you eye exercises to speed up your eyeballs, enabling them to bounce back and forth at maximum frequency.

But reading for ideas requires you to do the exact opposite; you must force yourself to slow down to the speed of comprehension and to make sure you have grasped a conceptual understanding of each piece of information before going to the next. Of course, this better grasp of the information will
lead
to faster reading, but in the meantime it can feel like you are forcing yourself to slow down. All you are really doing, however, is forcing yourself to remain connected to your real reading—your reading comprehension.

No matter how difficult it is to hold your reading speed to your comprehension speed, it is imperative that you let the speed come to you rather than chase after it. It’s really a balancing act wherein on the one hand you have to be willing to let go of the words and move on as soon as you “get it,” while on the other hand, not allow your speed to run away on you.

The takeaway is that to learn speed reading, you need to learn speed comprehension, because speed depends on comprehension and not vice versa. If you push your speed beyond your comprehension, it will be like Lucy and Ethel working at that chocolate-wrapping conveyer belt, with chocolates flying everywhere and very little getting wrapped.

Practice Exercise #16

As you read this next practice exercise, relax, be patient, and concentrate on imagining what you are reading. And instead of thinking about reading faster, just concentrate on meaning.

Also, remember to time your reading and record your words per minute in the chart you printed or in some other convenient place.

When you’re ready, begin reading the first thousand words of

Moby Dick
by Herman Melville

Moby Dick

Call me Ishmael.
Some years ago—
never mind
how long precisely—
having little or no money
in my purse,
and nothing particular
to interest me on shore,
I thought I would
sail about a little
and see the watery part
of the world.
It is a way
I have of driving off
the spleen
and regulating
the circulation.
Whenever I find myself
growing grim
about the mouth;
whenever it is a damp,
drizzly November
in my soul;
whenever I find myself
involuntarily pausing
before coffin warehouses,
and bringing up the rear
of every funeral I meet;
and especially
whenever my hypos get
such an upper
hand of me,
that it requires
a strong moral principle
to prevent me
from deliberately
stepping into the street,
and methodically knocking
people’s hats off—
then,
I account it high time
to get to sea
as soon as I can.
This is my substitute
for pistol
and ball.
With a philosophical
flourish
Cato throws himself
upon his sword;
I quietly take
to the ship.
There is nothing
surprising in this.
If they
but knew it,
almost all men
in their degree,
sometime or other,
cherish very nearly
the same feelings
towards the ocean
with me.

There now is
your insular city
of the Manhattoes,
belted round
by wharves
as Indian isles
by coral reefs—
commerce surrounds it
with her surf.
Right and left,
the streets take you
waterward.
Its extreme downtown
is the battery,
where that noble mole
is washed by waves,
and cooled by breezes,
which a few hours
previous
were out of sight
of land.
Look at the crowds
of water-gazers there.

Circumambulate the city
of a dreamy
Sabbath afternoon.
Go from Corlears Hook
to Coenties Slip,
and from thence,
by Whitehall,
northward.
What do you see?
Posted like
silent sentinels
all around the town,
stand
thousands upon thousands
of mortal men
fixed in ocean reveries.
Some leaning
against the spiles;
some seated
upon the pier-heads;
some looking
over the bulwarks
of ships from China;
some high aloft
in the rigging,
as if striving to get
a still better
seaward peep.
But these are all
landsmen;
of week days
pent up
in lath and plaster—
tied to counters,
nailed to benches,
clinched to desks.
How then is this?
Are the green fields
gone?
What do they here?