1 00:00:04,200 --> 00:00:06,120 Speaker 1: Hey, and welcome to the short stuff. I'm Josh, and 2 00:00:06,160 --> 00:00:09,160 Speaker 1: there's Chuck. Jerry's hanging out here being a weirdo creeper, 3 00:00:09,760 --> 00:00:12,479 Speaker 1: but she's standing in for Dave, who just doesn't show 4 00:00:12,600 --> 00:00:15,800 Speaker 1: up ever, which is sad, but it's all right. M 5 00:00:17,400 --> 00:00:19,440 Speaker 1: This is about speed reading. And you made a very 6 00:00:19,440 --> 00:00:21,320 Speaker 1: good point because you put this together for us that 7 00:00:21,720 --> 00:00:24,079 Speaker 1: if we did the same job today without the Internet, 8 00:00:24,960 --> 00:00:29,840 Speaker 1: you would get a podcast episode about once every two weeks. Yeah, tops, 9 00:00:30,320 --> 00:00:31,840 Speaker 1: because that's how long it would take for us to 10 00:00:32,440 --> 00:00:36,080 Speaker 1: go to the library and do all the analog research 11 00:00:36,159 --> 00:00:37,839 Speaker 1: that would take to get one of these episodes in 12 00:00:37,880 --> 00:00:41,680 Speaker 1: the can. But now we have the Internet and that 13 00:00:41,760 --> 00:00:44,360 Speaker 1: research is much more streamlined as it is for everyone else. 14 00:00:44,560 --> 00:00:47,000 Speaker 1: It's it's crazy, like when you think about it that way, 15 00:00:47,120 --> 00:00:51,120 Speaker 1: just the revolution and information that the Internet provides just 16 00:00:51,200 --> 00:00:54,319 Speaker 1: so easy to take it for granted today, but when 17 00:00:54,360 --> 00:00:56,120 Speaker 1: you stop and think about what people had to do 18 00:00:56,200 --> 00:01:02,320 Speaker 1: just thirty years ago, basically, um, it's it's pretty amazing. 19 00:01:02,640 --> 00:01:04,520 Speaker 1: The problem is is up to this point, up to 20 00:01:04,560 --> 00:01:08,480 Speaker 1: the point, um where the Internet became like uh widely 21 00:01:08,520 --> 00:01:13,120 Speaker 1: available to people through search engines, Um, we had decades 22 00:01:13,120 --> 00:01:15,080 Speaker 1: and centuries of people who did have to go to 23 00:01:15,120 --> 00:01:17,280 Speaker 1: the library to do all sorts of research, and they 24 00:01:17,280 --> 00:01:19,600 Speaker 1: still had to do jobs, They still had to find 25 00:01:19,640 --> 00:01:22,240 Speaker 1: out the answers to things, and there was a lot 26 00:01:22,280 --> 00:01:25,280 Speaker 1: of information, but all of it was trapped inside books, 27 00:01:25,640 --> 00:01:27,560 Speaker 1: and to get it out of there, you had to 28 00:01:27,600 --> 00:01:31,120 Speaker 1: basically guess what book had the information that you were 29 00:01:31,120 --> 00:01:34,160 Speaker 1: looking for, and then go find the book using the 30 00:01:34,280 --> 00:01:37,360 Speaker 1: card catalog, and then skim that book until you found 31 00:01:37,400 --> 00:01:40,120 Speaker 1: the fact or the information you needed. And that was 32 00:01:40,240 --> 00:01:44,240 Speaker 1: really slow and really hard to deal with. So it 33 00:01:44,680 --> 00:01:47,319 Speaker 1: kind of in that context, Chuck, it makes a lot 34 00:01:47,360 --> 00:01:51,360 Speaker 1: of sense that Evelyn would, the woman who founded a 35 00:01:51,360 --> 00:01:55,240 Speaker 1: company called Reading Dynamics which taught people for a hundred 36 00:01:55,320 --> 00:01:59,400 Speaker 1: fifty bucks about and fifty dollars today um, starting in 37 00:01:59,480 --> 00:02:05,040 Speaker 1: nineteen nine, would become an international sensation with this technique 38 00:02:05,040 --> 00:02:08,840 Speaker 1: of speed reading. Not a few hundred words, which is 39 00:02:09,080 --> 00:02:13,040 Speaker 1: around the where most people topped out, but thousands of 40 00:02:13,120 --> 00:02:17,200 Speaker 1: words per minute. That's right. I think the fastest readers 41 00:02:18,360 --> 00:02:20,920 Speaker 1: can read about four words per minute, and that's absorbing 42 00:02:20,960 --> 00:02:24,480 Speaker 1: what you're reading. It's a big, big point, it is, 43 00:02:24,520 --> 00:02:26,760 Speaker 1: and I have gotten into debates with friends of mine 44 00:02:26,760 --> 00:02:30,040 Speaker 1: who claimed to be um super fast readers, and I 45 00:02:30,040 --> 00:02:34,000 Speaker 1: would do what they do. I would read that try 46 00:02:34,000 --> 00:02:37,720 Speaker 1: and read that fast as a test independently, and it 47 00:02:37,840 --> 00:02:39,920 Speaker 1: just seems very dubious. I'm like, man, I can I 48 00:02:39,919 --> 00:02:42,840 Speaker 1: can barely even move my eyeballs as quick as you 49 00:02:42,880 --> 00:02:45,560 Speaker 1: say you're reading, Like, I don't think you're retaining as 50 00:02:45,639 --> 00:02:47,800 Speaker 1: much as you think, because it might be because I'm 51 00:02:47,800 --> 00:02:52,080 Speaker 1: a little defensive, but I've always been a very deliberate reader. 52 00:02:53,120 --> 00:02:55,600 Speaker 1: I just read very slowly, and I read it as 53 00:02:55,639 --> 00:02:58,480 Speaker 1: if I'm reading out loud to another person. That's how 54 00:02:58,520 --> 00:03:01,440 Speaker 1: I read to myself. And then when you factor in, 55 00:03:01,560 --> 00:03:03,959 Speaker 1: like your mind wandering, and you're like, oh wait, I 56 00:03:04,040 --> 00:03:06,480 Speaker 1: have to get back to reread this paragraph. It takes 57 00:03:06,520 --> 00:03:08,480 Speaker 1: me a very long time too, But I like to 58 00:03:08,520 --> 00:03:11,120 Speaker 1: feel like I got what I was reading afterwards. It 59 00:03:11,200 --> 00:03:13,040 Speaker 1: was worth a certain time, you know, not like these 60 00:03:13,280 --> 00:03:18,760 Speaker 1: skimmers come on right. So Evelyn Wood was very adamant, like, no, 61 00:03:18,919 --> 00:03:21,960 Speaker 1: I'm not teaching you skimming, because everybody would be like, yes, skimming, 62 00:03:22,000 --> 00:03:24,359 Speaker 1: we all do that in the catalog or the library, 63 00:03:24,400 --> 00:03:27,680 Speaker 1: standing up by the card catalog. We skim. Just think No, 64 00:03:27,800 --> 00:03:32,760 Speaker 1: I'm talking about reading really really fast. And what she 65 00:03:32,800 --> 00:03:36,600 Speaker 1: said she had was a technique UM that she said 66 00:03:36,680 --> 00:03:40,960 Speaker 1: was quote the greatest inventions since the printing press UM 67 00:03:41,000 --> 00:03:45,200 Speaker 1: and it was it used what she called finger pacing um, 68 00:03:45,200 --> 00:03:49,720 Speaker 1: which was, in her view, a way of show pointing 69 00:03:49,720 --> 00:03:52,920 Speaker 1: out to your eyes huge chunks of text, if you 70 00:03:52,960 --> 00:03:55,440 Speaker 1: were really good, an entire page of text that your 71 00:03:55,480 --> 00:03:58,000 Speaker 1: eye would just absorb, like a different kind of reading. 72 00:03:58,080 --> 00:04:00,640 Speaker 1: That's what Evelyn Wood said that she was teaching people. 73 00:04:00,960 --> 00:04:03,120 Speaker 1: And like I said, it was a smash hit. It 74 00:04:03,240 --> 00:04:06,240 Speaker 1: was very popular in the in the mid cent mid 75 00:04:06,280 --> 00:04:12,840 Speaker 1: twentieth century. Yeah. Their motto was we're not skimming, we're scamming, basically, 76 00:04:13,360 --> 00:04:16,360 Speaker 1: And I think that's a good point for our commercial break. 77 00:04:16,440 --> 00:04:18,800 Speaker 1: So we'll be right back after this to talk about 78 00:04:18,839 --> 00:04:23,120 Speaker 1: the scam that is speed reading. That's why SKA a 79 00:04:23,120 --> 00:04:29,479 Speaker 1: little bit that you should know. Y SKA should know. 80 00:04:30,360 --> 00:04:48,159 Speaker 1: But Josh Clark, alright, so it is a scam. Uh. 81 00:04:48,240 --> 00:04:52,400 Speaker 1: Their website or they didn't have a website. Their workshop, 82 00:04:52,800 --> 00:04:55,239 Speaker 1: I knew it started with a w Their workshop boasted 83 00:04:55,279 --> 00:04:57,960 Speaker 1: that you could read five to seven thousand words per 84 00:04:57,960 --> 00:04:59,880 Speaker 1: minute and you could get through Warrant in Peace in 85 00:05:00,080 --> 00:05:05,839 Speaker 1: eighteen minutes. Immediately upon hearing that I'm surprised anyone said, well, 86 00:05:05,839 --> 00:05:09,479 Speaker 1: this sounds revolutionary, Sign me up. I figured percent of 87 00:05:09,520 --> 00:05:11,800 Speaker 1: the people in the world would have said, there's no 88 00:05:11,880 --> 00:05:14,919 Speaker 1: way that's impossible. This has got to be a scam. 89 00:05:15,080 --> 00:05:18,560 Speaker 1: But everyone from John F. Kennedy to Richard Nixon to 90 00:05:18,720 --> 00:05:25,760 Speaker 1: Charlton Heston were early adherents of uh Wood's speed reading program. Yeah, 91 00:05:25,760 --> 00:05:28,159 Speaker 1: and I mean it makes sense because in the mid 92 00:05:28,440 --> 00:05:32,040 Speaker 1: twentieth century in America there was like a real trendy 93 00:05:32,160 --> 00:05:36,800 Speaker 1: nous about like intellect and you know, the engineering mindset, 94 00:05:36,960 --> 00:05:40,440 Speaker 1: lots of efficiency. Everything is very buttoned down and compartmentalized. 95 00:05:40,440 --> 00:05:42,960 Speaker 1: So the idea that you could wade through this enormous 96 00:05:43,000 --> 00:05:46,839 Speaker 1: amount of information trapped in books really quickly was it 97 00:05:46,960 --> 00:05:48,440 Speaker 1: was a way to show off that you were an 98 00:05:48,440 --> 00:05:51,320 Speaker 1: intellectual number one, but also was like I'm going to 99 00:05:51,440 --> 00:05:54,159 Speaker 1: leave the rest of you idiots behind. I'm gonna go 100 00:05:54,279 --> 00:05:57,200 Speaker 1: learn to speed read and you'll never catch up with me. Um. 101 00:05:57,279 --> 00:06:00,640 Speaker 1: So there was a lot of adherence to it. The 102 00:06:00,640 --> 00:06:03,880 Speaker 1: thing is there was also very simultaneously from a very 103 00:06:03,920 --> 00:06:07,800 Speaker 1: early um period. I think her first workshop was offered 104 00:06:07,880 --> 00:06:11,240 Speaker 1: in nineteen fifty nine, and by nineteen sixty two the 105 00:06:11,320 --> 00:06:16,520 Speaker 1: Saturday Evening Post had Um a story titled speed Reading 106 00:06:16,600 --> 00:06:19,360 Speaker 1: His Bunk. So there was criticism of it and skepticism 107 00:06:19,440 --> 00:06:22,400 Speaker 1: of it um from the outset, but she managed to 108 00:06:22,440 --> 00:06:26,000 Speaker 1: hang in there and actually reading dynamics is around today still, 109 00:06:27,240 --> 00:06:29,800 Speaker 1: it is. Uh, there have been I think the Washington 110 00:06:29,839 --> 00:06:33,640 Speaker 1: Post wrote a big criticism in nineteen eighty. Uh, there 111 00:06:33,680 --> 00:06:36,800 Speaker 1: were some other There's a woman named Marcia Biederman who 112 00:06:36,800 --> 00:06:41,880 Speaker 1: wrote scan artist colon how Evelyn would convince the world 113 00:06:41,880 --> 00:06:45,960 Speaker 1: that speed reading worked. And one of her criticisms was 114 00:06:46,560 --> 00:06:49,839 Speaker 1: this whole finger pacing thing, like even if that was 115 00:06:49,880 --> 00:06:51,920 Speaker 1: a thing, like you could do that yourself. You could 116 00:06:51,960 --> 00:06:54,599 Speaker 1: run your hand down a page and learn how to 117 00:06:54,640 --> 00:06:57,960 Speaker 1: do that stuff without paying what amounts to these these 118 00:06:58,040 --> 00:07:01,960 Speaker 1: day dollars, like over hundred bucks for someone to teach 119 00:07:02,000 --> 00:07:05,560 Speaker 1: you this bunk. And uh, the whole idea was I 120 00:07:05,560 --> 00:07:07,320 Speaker 1: think the Washington Post said said it was a new 121 00:07:07,360 --> 00:07:10,120 Speaker 1: way to teach readers to take in whole ideas rather 122 00:07:10,160 --> 00:07:13,160 Speaker 1: than words. So you know, I think if you looked 123 00:07:13,160 --> 00:07:16,600 Speaker 1: at a page of a book and went and went 124 00:07:16,680 --> 00:07:19,840 Speaker 1: down it, you might pick out, you know, let's say, 125 00:07:19,880 --> 00:07:23,080 Speaker 1: fifteen keywords where maybe you could say, I think the 126 00:07:23,160 --> 00:07:26,840 Speaker 1: character went to the hospital and they got better. But 127 00:07:26,920 --> 00:07:30,720 Speaker 1: like that's not the same as reading something right. Um. 128 00:07:30,800 --> 00:07:34,280 Speaker 1: So there was also like this kind of veneer of 129 00:07:34,360 --> 00:07:39,800 Speaker 1: religiousness that was assigned to reading dynamical, very culti kind 130 00:07:39,840 --> 00:07:43,440 Speaker 1: of scientologist eye a little bit um there. There was 131 00:07:43,520 --> 00:07:45,680 Speaker 1: you were supposed to have faith number one in your 132 00:07:45,720 --> 00:07:48,960 Speaker 1: ability to speed read. You also had faith you had 133 00:07:49,000 --> 00:07:53,240 Speaker 1: to have faith in the process, the procedure um, and 134 00:07:53,360 --> 00:07:56,040 Speaker 1: people who weren't any good at it didn't have enough confidence. 135 00:07:56,040 --> 00:07:58,400 Speaker 1: They didn't have enough faith. Uh. And that was born 136 00:07:58,440 --> 00:08:01,360 Speaker 1: out of Evelyn Wood's background is a Mormon. I believe 137 00:08:01,440 --> 00:08:04,280 Speaker 1: she was a very religious person. So that that definitely 138 00:08:04,560 --> 00:08:08,360 Speaker 1: kind of um was something that that Reading Dynamics was 139 00:08:08,480 --> 00:08:11,239 Speaker 1: draped in as well. But it also kind of has 140 00:08:11,280 --> 00:08:14,960 Speaker 1: a like you say, a culti view of culti um 141 00:08:14,960 --> 00:08:20,200 Speaker 1: technique of blaming the student rather than the actual workshop, 142 00:08:20,240 --> 00:08:23,480 Speaker 1: which is pretty terrible because it really was the workshop 143 00:08:23,560 --> 00:08:26,280 Speaker 1: that was the problem. And one of the things they did, 144 00:08:26,360 --> 00:08:29,840 Speaker 1: Chuck was like you can't have you can't be around 145 00:08:29,840 --> 00:08:33,080 Speaker 1: for decades and you know, do millions of people, Like 146 00:08:33,120 --> 00:08:36,120 Speaker 1: millions of people took this course. This is like dollars 147 00:08:36,360 --> 00:08:40,720 Speaker 1: for for the workshop. Millions of people took this course, Um, 148 00:08:40,840 --> 00:08:44,000 Speaker 1: you can't just dupe them without some sort of rigging. 149 00:08:44,120 --> 00:08:46,440 Speaker 1: And so what they did was they rigged what's called 150 00:08:46,440 --> 00:08:49,000 Speaker 1: the reading index. And the reading index was basically the 151 00:08:49,040 --> 00:08:53,800 Speaker 1: measure of how fast you could speed read by timing 152 00:08:53,800 --> 00:08:58,080 Speaker 1: how fast you read and then scoring it against your comprehension, right, 153 00:08:58,120 --> 00:09:01,200 Speaker 1: so you would get a comprehension test at end. And 154 00:09:01,400 --> 00:09:05,520 Speaker 1: what the Harvard Crimson in nineteen seven UH sort of 155 00:09:05,600 --> 00:09:10,319 Speaker 1: uncovered and pointed out was they very simply made those 156 00:09:10,360 --> 00:09:16,599 Speaker 1: first comprehension tests way harder than the final comprehension tests. 157 00:09:16,640 --> 00:09:19,760 Speaker 1: So the idea is as you progress each test, you're 158 00:09:19,800 --> 00:09:22,720 Speaker 1: going to get better and better scores for your comprehension. 159 00:09:23,360 --> 00:09:26,680 Speaker 1: And the first ones are very complicated and the last 160 00:09:26,720 --> 00:09:30,439 Speaker 1: ones are maybe like multiple choice UH and just kind 161 00:09:30,440 --> 00:09:32,640 Speaker 1: of super easy, to the point where the University of 162 00:09:32,640 --> 00:09:38,000 Speaker 1: Missouri did some experiments on the reading dynamics UH testing 163 00:09:38,160 --> 00:09:41,040 Speaker 1: and they found that you could score about a sixty 164 00:09:41,080 --> 00:09:43,920 Speaker 1: percent read and I assume this is for the later tests, 165 00:09:44,520 --> 00:09:47,160 Speaker 1: but you could score about a sixty percent reading comprehension 166 00:09:47,520 --> 00:09:50,080 Speaker 1: without even looking at the material. Yeah, I think that 167 00:09:50,160 --> 00:09:53,239 Speaker 1: was the final test that that that's how easy yeah, exactly, 168 00:09:53,840 --> 00:09:56,720 Speaker 1: and I mean they also Reading Dynamics was also known 169 00:09:56,800 --> 00:10:01,160 Speaker 1: for threatening or actually filing lawsuits against its vocal critics too, 170 00:10:01,760 --> 00:10:05,920 Speaker 1: to sign them scientology. So, um, the thing is is 171 00:10:05,960 --> 00:10:09,040 Speaker 1: like there's still this desire to speed read. I was 172 00:10:09,080 --> 00:10:12,760 Speaker 1: reading this article I'm Wired, and it said speed reading 173 00:10:12,880 --> 00:10:16,360 Speaker 1: is or sorry, speed reading is a scam um, And 174 00:10:16,400 --> 00:10:18,800 Speaker 1: there's still today. There's different iterations of it. And I 175 00:10:18,840 --> 00:10:23,240 Speaker 1: think part of it, probably especially when you're looking at 176 00:10:23,240 --> 00:10:26,599 Speaker 1: the original founder of like a speed reading technique or 177 00:10:26,640 --> 00:10:29,120 Speaker 1: something like that, before it becomes like a business, that 178 00:10:29,200 --> 00:10:32,600 Speaker 1: person probably really does think this works, and they really 179 00:10:32,640 --> 00:10:35,480 Speaker 1: do want to learn to speed read, and that desire 180 00:10:35,520 --> 00:10:38,760 Speaker 1: is still around. But I came across this um this 181 00:10:38,880 --> 00:10:43,800 Speaker 1: article by a guy, an author named Mark Seidenberg who's 182 00:10:43,880 --> 00:10:47,080 Speaker 1: researched this, and it's basically he points out that the 183 00:10:47,160 --> 00:10:50,680 Speaker 1: brain is just not equipped to absorb information that fast, 184 00:10:51,000 --> 00:10:54,840 Speaker 1: and that when you're reading words on a page, you're 185 00:10:55,160 --> 00:10:58,640 Speaker 1: each little bit you absorb and then you move on 186 00:10:58,679 --> 00:11:00,679 Speaker 1: to the next bit. Each of those is called a fixation, 187 00:11:01,040 --> 00:11:03,600 Speaker 1: and we can take between a roughly seven and eight 188 00:11:03,679 --> 00:11:08,920 Speaker 1: letters per fixation, right. Each fixation lasts between a quarter 189 00:11:09,000 --> 00:11:12,480 Speaker 1: to a fifth of a second, and that um, really 190 00:11:12,520 --> 00:11:16,800 Speaker 1: what you're taking in. If you calculate something like seven 191 00:11:16,880 --> 00:11:22,400 Speaker 1: letters per fixation, you could do six eighty letters per minute, 192 00:11:22,800 --> 00:11:26,079 Speaker 1: which divided by five letter words plus a space is 193 00:11:26,080 --> 00:11:29,000 Speaker 1: two eighty words per minute. Two eighty words per minute 194 00:11:29,280 --> 00:11:32,000 Speaker 1: is what the average person can read at So the 195 00:11:32,000 --> 00:11:34,720 Speaker 1: idea that somebody could read seven thousand words per minute 196 00:11:34,880 --> 00:11:37,720 Speaker 1: and have any idea what they just read is it's 197 00:11:37,760 --> 00:11:41,160 Speaker 1: just it's bunk. As the Saturday Evening Post put it, 198 00:11:41,160 --> 00:11:44,160 Speaker 1: it's total bunk. And the one thing that is also 199 00:11:44,280 --> 00:11:47,960 Speaker 1: very much Scientology like, as they count on pride and 200 00:11:48,040 --> 00:11:54,960 Speaker 1: shame to kind of keep former adherence to the program quiet. Um, 201 00:11:55,000 --> 00:11:59,040 Speaker 1: maybe you're shameful that you paid thirty dollars for Scientology 202 00:11:59,080 --> 00:12:01,480 Speaker 1: programs and nothing out of it and you don't want 203 00:12:01,480 --> 00:12:04,360 Speaker 1: to say anything about it. Or maybe you paid that 204 00:12:05,679 --> 00:12:08,640 Speaker 1: equivalent in the nineteen fifties and you didn't learn how 205 00:12:08,679 --> 00:12:11,400 Speaker 1: to speed read and you didn't want to go around 206 00:12:11,400 --> 00:12:13,480 Speaker 1: telling people you dropped that much money. And they kind 207 00:12:13,480 --> 00:12:16,839 Speaker 1: of count these organizations, and it is funny how much 208 00:12:16,880 --> 00:12:19,679 Speaker 1: it's kind of close to Scientology, but they count on 209 00:12:19,720 --> 00:12:23,160 Speaker 1: people kind of keeping their failures quiet because of that 210 00:12:23,240 --> 00:12:26,000 Speaker 1: pride and that shame and it it worked. It's funny. 211 00:12:26,000 --> 00:12:28,720 Speaker 1: If you read some of these, um, these contemporary articles, 212 00:12:28,760 --> 00:12:31,560 Speaker 1: you'll see interviews with people who are like, yeah, I 213 00:12:31,600 --> 00:12:33,800 Speaker 1: really used to have it, but you know, my my 214 00:12:33,880 --> 00:12:37,240 Speaker 1: comprehension score has gone down because I haven't kept up 215 00:12:37,280 --> 00:12:39,440 Speaker 1: with it. That's what they say. I am kept up 216 00:12:39,520 --> 00:12:42,480 Speaker 1: with it. I let it go, I'll let it slip. Uh. 217 00:12:42,520 --> 00:12:46,360 Speaker 1: So it's pretty yeah, so, um speed reading is not 218 00:12:46,480 --> 00:12:49,600 Speaker 1: a thing, and it's actually a pretty interesting little world 219 00:12:49,840 --> 00:12:52,240 Speaker 1: two trapes into. So if this caught your attention, go 220 00:12:52,360 --> 00:12:54,599 Speaker 1: check out more of it. And I think, chuck that 221 00:12:55,000 --> 00:12:57,959 Speaker 1: short stuff is out, don't you. It's out as out 222 00:12:57,960 --> 00:13:03,559 Speaker 1: can be. Stuff you should know is a production of 223 00:13:03,600 --> 00:13:06,920 Speaker 1: I Heart Radio. For more podcasts my heart Radio, visit 224 00:13:06,960 --> 00:13:09,760 Speaker 1: the I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you 225 00:13:09,800 --> 00:13:13,760 Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows. H