[OT] Speed-reading [was Re: Too much code - slicing]

[Steven D'Aprano]

On Sun, 19 Sep 2010 10:29:10 -0400, AK wrote:

> On 09/18/2010 11:28 PM, Steven D'Aprano wrote:
[...]
>> My wife can read scarily fast. It's very something to watch her reading
>> pages as fast as she can turn them, and a few years ago she read the
>> entire Harry Potter series (to date) in one afternoon, and could gives
>> a blow-by-blow account of the plots, including a detailed critique of
>> the writing style and characters. But then, she feels that reading the
>> Potter series is a chore to be completed as fast as possible, rather
>> than a pleasure to be savored. She'll sometimes drag a new Terry
>> Pratchett or Stephen King novel out for as much as two days.
>>
>>
>>
> That's pretty impressive. I used to get somewhat close to that speed
> when, years ago, I'd read a lot of trashy scifi. 
[...]
> In other spots, I'd
> be able to scan a few words at the top of page, a few in the middle and
> at the bottom and I'd know what's going on, generally.

I don't know about how other people speed-read, but I can assure you that 
when my wife speed-reads, she's not just scanning a few words and 
interpolating between them. She can give you a detailed summary of what 
*actually* happened, not just a good guess. Including pointing out any 
spelling or grammatical errors and clumsy writing. *Especially* the 
spelling errors, they have about the same effect on her reading speed as 
a tree trunk lying across a Formula 1 race track.

-- 
Steven