The art of school is skimming!

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That, an staying ahead, and the way you're able to do that is by skimming.

I used to think that super concentration was really the way to go, that it was the best way or the "purest" way. However, tremendous energy which you can't always do.

And, it's just one part of the repertoire, just one note in the choir.


And even scientists might skim, right? A scientist might even skim in reading professional publications in his or her own subspeciality. Their goal is to stay abreast in their field and keep generally informed of what's going on. And that can be achieved quite nicely by skimming, thank you very much.

Where they rabbit-hole in and laser-beam in is their own research projects. And even there, there's a lot to be said for multiple quick passes.


So I conclude, there are many good ways to learn.

I'm quite good at skimming, with enough experience you can take quite a lot of information out of an article just by skimming. I don't really get a chance to do it now though, there's never enough reading material so I tend to read what little reading material there is more than once out of boredom, taking in every detail.

Interesting.

I read between 600 - 1000 words per minute, depending on my mood. My comprehension is in the upper 90s even at the higher speed, but I actually prefer reading slowly for books I enjoy (like my Terry Pratchett and Stephen King special interest).

My speed goes up if I use a finger to keep my eye focused, and apparently this is a speed-reading tip. So all those teachers who forced you to not use a finger while reading, were completely wrong!

I think it is good to skim through things, if you know how and when to do these things. Because I remember I would use to try to prepare for a test and I would just literally study from day to night even. So if you are going to read something or study something, you should find techniques to skim through things, but make sure you retain the information you read or study about.

And it's a little bit like zen meditation. After all the studying, and the classes and the books, 'now, don't try so hard. just let it happen.' Uh? Very paradoxial!

Or, it's like someone writing music. Sometimes the magic happens, and sometimes it doesn't.


(and by staying ahead, it's so much easier to follow this light approach)

I think you should read at your reading level and not any faster. I read incredibly quickly and comphend it all. But not all people are like that and should read at their own pace.

Point well-taken. It's probably not a percentage move to place a self-imposed obligation, and a clunky one at that, onto oneself.

At the same time, if one can experiment with a light touch, that might be valuable (no guarantee, for it is an experiement!).

I believe that your reading speed can be improved by using your finger or hand to guide your eyes, no matter who you are (and of course if you don't have a reading disorder), as much as twice as fast.