Photoreading

[officelurker]

If anyone has read "How to read a book" by Mortimer Adler knows that the first step of reading is to inspect the book thoroughly - he says some books might take 10 min some 1 hour - this is even before you start reading the book. This process is necessary because one has to decide if the book is worth reading or not.

Anyone who does this step - inspectional reading - will know more or less what the book is about.

Ironically, photoreading is basically inspectional reading where one reads the title, preface, table of contents, index, and through the index jumps into sections that might interest s/he.

Also, syntopical reading is the final chapter of Adler's classic book.

Where the process of "flipping the pages" has any effect on comprehension of the text is not proven otherwise we would have major news sources covering this and this is enough proof that this is not proven.

[Nikos Sokin]

I have been ordering used books from Amazon for years now, without reading pretty much any of them. I never assumed I would not read them, but I figured I'd get to them some day. I started a book club in my field (international development) and just went to our second book club meeting, having photoread the book assigned. Really, it was so great to have had both a deadline and a systematic way of ingesting a ream of info into the parts that were important to me. As others have mentioned, much of photoreading is about reading intelligently, using ones time in the best way. I honestly don't know if the photoreading/unconscious part really adds to anything, but it doesn't seem to take much time. And I agree with the assessment of one person on the DVD who said that the activation step is perhaps the step that requires most skill/practise.

Anyhow, it might not have been cheap, even with the discount, but it is the prices of a regular course, and it's gotten me to take my intention of being a more efficient reader at least one step further in action. Which is saying a LOT!

[etnie21]

I received the deluxe program a few months ago in the mail and have finally made my way through the course. It took a bit, as I tend to be more of a perfectionist and very much got caught up in the details of trying to do each step perfectly vs. just doing it and letting it come to me naturally.

Seeing the blip page (though fleeting at times) hasn't been too much of an issue.

The supporting material is great if you are the type that needs extra motivation, support, etc... to get through a program. I tend to struggle doing home courses due to the lack of interaction. Yes there are exercises (which I also highly recommend doing because they reinforce what you are learning) but again unless someone is there asking you questions it is challenging to stay engaged at times. On that note, I did find myself falling asleep once or twice while listening to some of the cds. I am not sure if I was just too tired to be listening, I listened earlier in the day or mid day so nothing late at night, or if that is something that has happened to other people.

The DVDs are helpful in the sense of someone actually walking through some of the steps, very helpful if you are a visual learner.

I am at the point of figuring out how to digest a large amounts of books over the next few months as the program champions using this technique as much as possible to become familiar with it. For example I am interested to see if people just have a ton of books lying around, if they end up buying a large amount of books, spend more (hopefully productive) time in the library, or some other creative approach?

Overall I am cautiously optimistic about the program. I think it works for some but not for everyone...

[searstower]

Ok, it's time for a review of Photoreading from someone who actually has the PR course and is not just speculating.

How it happened
I read about Photoreading for the first time on Steve's blog. I have been practing hypnosis in many forms for a long time and have known for almost as long that hypnosis has a huge potential for personal improvement in many areas.

The description of photoreading sounded a lot like using hypnosis to dump the entire contents of a book into my head and then letting my powerful unconscious mind sort out the stuff I needed, when I needed it. I already knew that our brain does this filtering anyway, so why not use it more productively?

I didn't want to pay for the entire package though if there was another way to learn it without the high price tag, so I picked up the PR book first.

History
I have always been good at schoolwork and hardly studied at all. Before the photoreading course, I was reading a non-fiction book in 6-8 hours, so I could read 1 book a week without even trying just by bringing it on the bus with me.

When I got the PR book, I timed myself and read it following the suggestions, first previewing the book, then skimming, then dipping. Within 45 minutes, I felt that I knew every major concept of the book very well and didn't need to continue reading.

The other piece that I liked was that photoreading seemed to have some similar components to my own study habits when I was getting excellent grades. I've heard lots of beginning photoreaders complain that the PR course says that in order to get results, you need to release the need to get the results. To them it seems like a catch 22, but to an excellent test taker and straight A student, I have to say that 'not sweating it' is a powerful study technique. In fact, the only test I did stress over I did pretty badly on.

I am not without my own challenges though, and I soon stopped practicing. I hadn't progressed as quickly as I had thought and forgot about Photoreading...

Two months later...
...I was talking with a friend and started telling them about Photoreading and how it worked, and how I had been reading books that should have taken me 3 hours in less than 1 hour.

That night, I thought about how much faster I could be reading right now if I hadn't quit practing and started kicking myself. I now knew that I'd need a bit more handholding than just the book as the practice exercises there didn't fit my learning type too well.

I went back to Steve's blog post, read and re-read it, and finally decided to go for it. I bought the deluxe package. When it arrived, I spent a whole week of evenings listening to the tapes and doing the exercises.

After photoreading 10 books successfully, I felt comfortable to make a big leap. I'm now going back to school and will be testing out of 16 prereq classes by reading the books and taking the CLEP tests for those classes. In 6 hours, I'm already halfway through my first course!

My observations
In my practice and time reading about PR and on the help boards, it seems to me that there are two types of people that get the most value from PR. People who currently have a hard time with reading and those who are already power readers. These groups seem to see the most benefit from learning photoreading, and so they tend to push themselves farther and have a better chance of actually making photoreading work.

My second observation is that, like myself, it takes most people more than one try to make it work for them. Take heart, redefine your purpose and do it again!

I hope this has helped clear up some of the murkiness around the Photoreading course. To me, it was worth the money and the time.

Thanks for the recommendation, Steve!
Rebecca

[RT Wolf]

^ Great post! I am keen to know how you do on those tests. I'm also a student, so I'm fairly curious about that success with it. I (like you) started learning, and then stopped (life intervened and so forth and cause I've been lazy), so I'll be getting back into it shortly. Thanks for the boost!

[Adrienne]

For what it is worth, here is my photoreading experience.

I ordered the photoreading deluxe edition at the tail end of November. I was getting ready to leave on a trip, so I blew thru all the cds in about 2 or 3 days and hoped on a plane. At this point in my life, I had over 100 fiction books to read, and about 300 non fiction books on all sorts of topics including programming languages I have never studied, quantum physics, cookbooks, computer books, medical texts, and metaphysical literature. Now, as interested as I am in all these topics, it was a huge burden to think I was behind in that much reading. I had many books from the library and would be approaching the 50 limit; not to mention I had many books I renewed for months.

I was very interested in all these topics, I just did not have the time to spend reading all this. I read on average 2 to 3 books a week and I just watched myself get further behind.

Then.. magic.. Steve recommended photoreading. I got it.

On my trip I only packed 4 books. 2 non fiction(learning php programming) and 2 fiction. After a long flight that consisted of regular reading a fiction book and listening to my mp3 player, I landed at my destination and went fast to sleep (well after I got to bed )

The next morning, I had a couple hours to kill as I waited for life to settle. I picked up the thinner of the two books. It was my first experience of trying to photoread without the CDs. I followed the steps as much as I could remember. I photoread the complete book then activated it by skittering and rapid reading in about an hour. I went thru the book a total of 5 times. When I got done, I was amazed at what I knew. Typically 5 hours in a dense programming book is about 3 chapters.

The next day I did the next book. Same thing. Though, I have never programmed in php at that point, I still had a programming background so I knew more then a beginner background, I was simply amazed at what I knew about this language… Here is an example.

Typically a book like the first book I described I would spend about 40 hours reading it. Then even when I finished reading it, I would have the book next to me as I tried to implement the knowledge as I programmed. I would still rely on the book for calcification and as a reference. Well, after I photoread it, I found I still needed to use it as a reference however, it only took me an hour to get to the point where it was a reference book and where I knew what was in the book and where I could find it (eg list of functions or libraries).

I was visiting people on this trip, and she saw me photoreading. Turns out she was taking a course where she had to read this absolutely horrible book having to do with Freud and his disciples and how he picked disciples. She had been trying to read it for days (it was a short 130 page book or so) and falling asleep tying it. She told me “it is just so boring and tedious.” She is right, it sure what. The difference was, it only had 10 minutes in my hands where she took a 3 hours to get thru it finally. After she finished it, with much amazement to myself at the time, we proceeded to have a 30 minute conversation on it. I found myself referencing and (loosely) quoting parts of text in our discussion. She was amazed and so was i.

When I got back, it took me a couple months but I got through every one of those 400 non fiction books and it felt so good to return all those library books, file books on my shelves, give books back to people, etc. I found I quickly pick up the skills doing this.

After I read symptopically ready about 10 php books, I sat down to figure out php code and to change it. Now, I was not an expert by any means, but I was able to read most of the code, follow it, make changes, and use the books as a reference. I just seemed to know the information. Now, when I came to a function I needed very specific info on, I knew what book to look at and about where to look.

Now, most of the PHP books I read where towards the end of the 400 book extravaganza so my process was better.

After I finished all those books, I looked around my room and was amazed at how much info I managed to read. It was awesome.

Now I only photoread a couple books a week or so. I have found that I enjoy reading that way, but some non fictions books I enjoy reading the longer way.

Now as to fiction books. I don’t photoread these. I read fiction for pleasure only. I love to watch the stories unfold. I don’t want to read them in 20 minutes, I want to enjoy them. So I have never tried. I also don’t read magazines or newspapers either.

Middle of January, I had a great idea. It was that dreaded time of year (you know the time where you need to read 40 plus prospectuses) and I usually spend about a month getting thru every one of these 100 plus technical jargon confusion hideously boring documents. This year was the first year that I read them all in 2 nights. Photoread. I felt I made great informed decisions. It was such a relief to get that over with.

I know find I use it sometimes without thinking about it. Someone hands me a pice of paper, I just look at ti for a second and I just know most of where is there. I love the freedom that give me.

I also find that now that I can read like that, I get to spend more time reading fiction which I really enjoy. Unless I have a need to symptopically read something, I typically limit myself to a couple books a week.

That is my 2 cents…

Adrienne

[Erock]

^ Awesome Post. Fantastic Review, and I'm glad it has helped you so much.

[RT Wolf]

Thank you very much for your review, Adrienne. That's exactly my position (including renewing books for months from the libary ), so I really appreciate hearing from you. Really great review with personal anecdotes. Really gives me the motivation to push through my resistance and learn to photoread.

[Adrienne]

Originally Posted by RT Wolf

Thank you very much for your review, Adrienne. That's exactly my position (including renewing books for months from the libary ), so I really appreciate hearing from you. Really great review with personal anecdotes. Really gives me the motivation to push through my resistance and learn to photoread.

Originally Posted by Erock

^ Awesome Post. Fantastic Review, and I'm glad it has helped you so much.

You are welcome. Glad you guys enjoyed it. I enjoyed really thinking about and reviewing the proccess.

I have to say, pratice really helps. I found it, i could not think of photoreading as reading. They are two different things and i had to let go of wanting the photoreading experince to mirror reading. It just does not becuase it is not the same thing. It like saying you expect football and basketball to be the same becuase they both involve a ball and lots of running.

Once i let that go, it came much easier. I also, desided to just try it. I did not reread (regualr read) any of the books i photoread. I trusted myself to know it. While my skills got better with practice, i see a difference between what i originally photoread and how i photoread now.

I would have loved to have this in school!.

Good luck on your own photoreading experinence.

Adrienne

[silveroaks]

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone else saw this recent news article about speed/photo reading, and what they thought about it in terms of the PhotoReading program some members of the forum have been using. This information seems to discount the possibility that a person can see or take a "mental snapshot" of an entire page of text all at once. Here's an excerpt from the article:

LiveScience.com - Speed Reading Just a Gimmick

When you read, your eyes act like spotlights on a stage. The construction of your eyes only allows them to focus on one small area on the page at a time, so the idea of speed reading is bunk, according to several studies published in the Journal of Vision this month.

Although you might have the illusion that you see the whole page, you can actually only see small groups of letters at the point where your eyes are focused. Only eight or 10 letters fit in this tiny window, called the visual span. The rest of the letters are just a blur, said Gordon Legge, a vision researcher at the University of Minnesota.

(visit the link to read the full article)

[RT Wolf]

^ Yes, you're talking about the fovia (I think). Speed reading is not like photoreading in this sense, because the concept is slightly different. The idea is that your subconscious mind is still able to understand the word written on a page outside of your fovia. I think Alex w/ Learning Strategies said something about that in this thread somewhere.

I'm curious about one thing, though, they say the idea of speed reading is bunk, sure. However, that doesn't necessarily mean that speed reading is not possible. I'm curious to hear/read articles on comprehension and speed tests done on speed readers. Its easy to say that the generally accepted explanation for something is not right, but that doesn't mean that the actual process can't have another explanation.

BTW, my normal reading speed is greater than 300 words a minute (between 250 and 300 is average). This is all before I got into any of this stuff.

"Because of the constraints of the visual span, reading more than 300 words per minute is almost impossible."

And the fact that I know other people who also read faster than 300 words makes me think that that the article is extremely negatively biased and extrapolates generally understood scientific facts to try to prove something the writer believes is not possible. That is, the writer is try to justify a conclusion they already hold, rather than trying to conclude something from proof.

In terms of my progress with Photoreading, I'm doing pretty well. I'm having a bit of difficulty coming up with good purposes and enough emotion to activate the material, but I'm finding that a deadline helps create a greater "need" to get the information. It's a little unsettling, but I'm getting used to it.

For others who're considering Photoreading, it has a moneyback garuntee that can be extended to six months. For myself, I read many, many books. My trade is in information, so its a wonderful investment that promises to yield great returns. Price is a little steep, but I feel that I will be greatly compensated in terms of time saved over hte years and new information gained over the years.

[silveroaks]

Hi RT Wolf,

Originally Posted by RT Wolf

BTW, my normal reading speed is greater than 300 words a minute (between 250 and 300 is average). This is all before I got into any of this stuff.

"Because of the constraints of the visual span, reading more than 300 words per minute is almost impossible."

And the fact that I know other people who also read faster than 300 words

I have to second this part of your post. My normal reading speed also is much greater than 300 words per minute. I don't use any special techniques, and I don't speed-read or skim the material. I simply read faster than the average speed quoted in the article. I also read quite a lot -- both fiction and non-fiction -- and I believe the practice of reading daily helps me maintain the natural ability to read quickly. I noticed when I went a couple of years without reading nearly as often as I usually do, my reading speed dropped slightly. Now that I'm back to reading every day, my reading speed is back to what it used to be.

[Niki]

Hey, i want to give you my advice for the photoreading thing.

I got the book like 3 days ago, and i'm really getting huge benefits from it.
I first read it like the instructions on the first page said, but instead of the level 3 step of it, i decided to photo read it, and afterwards speed reading it. Just to make it a "practice" allready. i photoreaded a book of network administration wich i mind mapped the main concepts off before i started to photoread so that couldnt be much of a real test, then i wanted to read a book written by Stephen R. Coley wich after previewing i decided to NOT read. Saving me alot of time and then finaly i dared to take a real test by photoreading "good to great" written by jim collins. I photoreaded it with the purpose of getting the main concepts of it, and i did that in the morning and then activated it in the evening. I must say i know what the book is about, i get the concepts. One thing i dont have is knowledge of the story's about the company's described in it. But that wasnt my purpose so i'm happy about my achievement.

I think if you want to have the benefits of photoreading it's important to follow the steps properly, and then be happy with it. If your purpose to read a book is getting the main concepts, be sure you are getting the main concepts then, but dont be mad when you dont know where the story's are about. or where the details are about. You diddnt ask about them.

The photofocus is another big thing i think, and not the photofocus itself maybe, but more the state you are in when trying to photofocus. I'm using the paraliminals audio thing "memory supercharger" before the photoreading step to go in to a relaxation state where the information can directly flow into my mind. another thing i do is to sort of visualize every 2 pages getting absorbed by your brain. then it really feels like its happening, and you dont feel like you diddnt do anything after photoreading a book.

Sorry about my english, i'm from belgium and speak dutch natively.

[RT Wolf]

Would anyone else like to share their photoreading experiences? Especially if you have successfully integrated PR into your life, and you feel that you've gotten good benefit from it.

This would serve a few purposes, one is selfish, that it will help keep me motivated to keep learning PR and push through my limiting beliefs (I'm doing really, well, I reckon I should have a good handle on it in two weeks). The other is that it might motivate others to seek Photoreading.

Thank you!

[hatsoff2halford]

I got the book about 4 days ago, and i've been doing the five day test. On day 4 I can see a definite improvement in what I know about the book. However, I'm not sure if the only reason I know more is because of super reading and dipping, or if the actual photoreading and activation has done anything. Would anyone like to help me figure this out?

Thanks!

[RT Wolf]

I think its in the book: Try not photoreading stuff and just super reading and dipping, or other activations.

[hatsoff2halford]

It says in the book how to tell?

[RT Wolf]

Not in particular, no, I think it(or he, I could be making a source-monitoring error), said that you'll feel how much you understnad the material, as far as I remember.

I've been thinking about getting some reading comprehension tests and doing them after regular reading, skimming, photoreading, photoreading and activating, photoreading and rapid reading. I'd imagine that'd be one way to figure out how much you're getting from the book.

At any rate, I'm getting much better with photoreading, now. Now I can actually feel like I've gotten out of the book much of what really matters. It's a very nice feeling. I want to use photoreading on books I'm reading for fun more, cause I'm not getting so much time right now.

[hatsoff2halford]

So, for you does it feel like the actual photoreading step is producing any results? Or more just super reading, dipping, and rapid reading?

[RT Wolf]

I do feel a bit more familiar with the material, but that could be because I expect to (tricking myself), I really only get results from super reading and dipping, in terms of conscious understanding or recollection. On the other hand, I haven't been photoreading long, so perhaps the cool spontaneous activation might not happen yet until I can learn to trust my intuition more.

The question is not whether photoreading itself produces any results by itself, in my mind, but whether photoreading really does help with activation. Could you just do the stuff in activation and do as well without photoreading?

There is a bit too much emphasis on the photoreading step itself, IMO.

[hatsoff2halford]

Exactly what I'm thinking. It seems like almost all of the emphasis is on the photoreading step, almost their main selling point. Yet, It seems as if the activation processes, which could be learned form any speed reading technique, are what's causing the conscious comprehension. Before I go and spend $225 on a technique that I could have learned on my own...I want to figure out if the Photoreading step produces any results.

It would help if Alex from Learning Strategies could throw his 2 cents in...

[RT Wolf]

I dunno if he's even around here anymore. You could try visiting the forums over at learning strategies, however, I'd imagine you'd be skeptical of them.

My understanding is that the photoreading step helps guide your intuition in the activation phase, and it can also sometimes spontaenously activate, giving you conscious understanding of hte material without any or very little activation. I'd imagine that you requires you to relax the belief that that sort of thing isn't possible, which is something I have some difficulty with cause of the kinda person I am.