1---
2title: "Reading Methods & RSVP"
3date: 2020-02-13T21:57:28-05:00
4draft: false
5author: Amolith
6description: Methods we unconsciously use when reading and ways to increase both speed and comprehension
7cover: /assets/pngs/book.png
8categories:
9 - Technology
10tags:
11 - Productivity
12 - Reading
13 - TIL
14---
15
16## Reading methods
17Today, I learned that there are three primary ways people read. The
18first and most common is *mental reading* and this is when you "say" the
19words in your head as if you were speaking them.[^1] I find this useful
20when writing because it's as if I'm *actually* speaking them; picking
21out sentences and phrases that don't sound quite right is easier. In
22writing courses, the instructor's advice is often to read your work
23aloud and see how it sounds as mistakes, word choices, and grammatical
24errors are typically much more prominent. Personally, I find doing it in
25my head sufficient though. Mental reading is the slowest method but also
26where your comprehension is at its peak; you are forced to slow down and
27that gives your brain more time to process the information it's being
28fed. The average speed is 250 WPM.[^2]
29
30The second method is called *auditory reading* and it's just listening
31to words spoken by a person or a TTS[^3] engine. Because listening is
32generally more passive, it's much easier to completely miss individual
33words while still understanding the meaning of the phrase or passage.
34This is significantly faster than mental reading at an average of around
35450 WPM. However, comprehension takes a hit because you have less time
36to process the information.
37
38*Visual reading* is the last and fastest. The concept may be kind of
39hard to grasp at first but the next paragraph about Stutter will
40hopefully make it clearer. Visual reading is understanding the meaning
41of the word without having to hear it or say it in your head,
42recognising it based on its shape and the letters it's comprised of.
43Comprehension is at its lowest here but speed peaks. The *average*
44reader who uses this method can consume 700 words per minute. To put
45that in perspective, it's 2.8x faster than mental reading. While
46comprehension is low, it is not nonexistent. The best way to understand
47what I mean is to try it for yourself.
48
49**Note:** [Some
50sources](https://steemit.com/content/@jacor/speed-reading-a-wonderful-skill-to-obtain)
51say that, with practise and when done correctly, there is no difference
52in comprehension, rather the opposite; you retain information
53*significantly* better when speed reading properly. This is where I
54would recommend actually doing it and deciding for yourself.
55
56## Stutter
57[Stutter](https://github.com/jamestomasino/stutter) is a Firefox and
58Chrome extension that brings RSVP[^4] to your browser and lets you
59develop visual reading skills. It specifically makes use of *peripheral
60reading* and displays a single word at time but moves through them at
61rapid pace. It highlights a single character of the current word just to
62the left of the centre. This is because a word can usually be recognised
63by its first few characters; the rest aren't as important. The highlight
64remains in a fixed position so you never have to move your eyes. Because
65of that, Stutter is able to display new words much more quickly; the
66average reader can usually comfortably start at 500 WPM but it is
67possible to reach speeds of over 1200 WPM with regular practise. I
68haven't gotten that far yet :wink:
69
70For more information on speed reading, the [Wikipedia
71page](https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_reading) (where I got most of my
72information) is really interesting and well-worth a read.
73
74## Edits
75* [@caltlgin](https://masto.nixnet.xyz/@caltlgin) recommended
76 [flrdr,](https://octobanana.com/software/fltrdr) a TUI tool for
77 reading with RSVP
78
79[^1]: The technical term is
80 *[subvocalisation](https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Subvocalization)*
81[^2]: Words per minute
82[^3]: [Text-to-speech](https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Speech_synthesis)
83[^4]: *[Rapid serial visual
84 presentation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapid_serial_visual_presentation)*