Feeling The Need For Speed
If you listen to any amount of talk radio at all, you've probably noticed the number of self-improvement ads that you come across. They invite you to build your vocabulary, learn foreign languages, become financially independent, and earn that masters degree that you've always wanted. The one that I've noticed lately is a ad that promises to increase you ability to read, both in terms of speed and comprehension.
Companies hawking speed reading have been around for years and I've usually found little appeal in the product. I enjoy reading a great deal and am able to get through material at a decent pace. I've always regarded speed reading as an unnecessary shortcut that would make reading too workmanlike, thus robbing the endeavor of much of it's appeal .
But I'm now willing to reconsider. These days (actually for some time now) there seems to be so much that I want to read and so little time to do it. I'm always reading at least one book (usually two or three) but I never make much of a dent in my "to be read" backlog, to say nothing of my wish list of books waiting to be acquired. Throw in magazines and the Internet and my scarce time for reading is swamped with potential material. Unless there's a nuclear holocaust tomorrow and I'm the last man on earth suddenly blessed with all the time I need for reading (reason #156 that I'm glad I had that laser eye surgery ), I will never come anywhere near close to catching up.
So, as I've said, I'm willing to take a new look at the whole speed reading concept. What I'd like to know from our readers is this: Has anyone tried one of these speed reading programs? Was it effective? Were you happy with the results? Was it worth the investment? And perhaps most importantly of all, did it have any impact on the pleasure you derived from reading?
Any input would be greatly appreciated.
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