Do You Really Need to Learn to Speed Read
Their advertisements plagued Internet newspapers, TV any other form of advertisement that may exist. Their claims for increasing your speed to 400 wpm to 1500 wpm, but is this something we all really need. Although, many of us may be pressed for time on a daily basis is not the intent of cuddling up with a good book meant to be a slow and pleasurable time for self-indulgence.
As the plethora of knowledge feel the voids of the world. It may seem more imperative than ever to quickly scan, process, and assimilate information in a timely functional manner. This is especially true for today's writers or Internet gurus, who are constantly updating or need to update web sites, web pages, and product information. Their need to read quickly and assimilate information has never been more demanding. So the question is speed reading, truly necessary for all individuals?
The reality is, most individuals will probably not benefit from spending the time, money and energy in learning to speed read. Additional downsides that exist, even for those that need to learn speed reading is loss of information. You may skim through a book or article and not pick up on the finer points. This in itself defeats the purpose of reading. One could argue that by reading 1000 wpm that absorption of the information is probably significantly reduced. An example case would be to read an article, form your opinion process the information and begin discussing this with a colleague. Unknown to you, the colleague has read the same article only thoroughly, and a certain line that summed up the writer's arguments. You had missed this, and why? You argue with your colleague in this case your ability to out read him was not near as impressive as your inability to properly understand the article. In this case speed-reading serves no purpose.
One of the saddest facts is those individuals who have invested the time to take a speed-reading course find out upon returning that they no longer enjoy reading a book for a book. Once you have whizzed through it, but felt like you did not fully capture the essence of the story. It is unfortunate, but most individuals claim that once taking a speed-reading course they often find it difficult or impossible to stop speed reading. For individuals who truly need, do to work or other external pressures a speed reading course will find it beneficial. Those who would just like to shorten a novel by a few hours will find it more beneficial and more enjoyable to just practice reading. You may consider implementing some reading mechanics, such as posture and pacing.
A major disadvantage that most individuals probably do not consider before starting a speed reading course is the inability to maintain information in long-term memory. Unfortunately the processing of so much information in such a short period of time, allows the majority of this information to only exist in your short-term memory.
In short, you should truly evaluate your need for a speed-reading course. And when applied to information that you need to retain for future use it is advised that you do not use a speed-reading techniques to absorb and process this information. |
