gwern comments on Recent updates to gwern.net (2012-2013) - Less Wrong

63 Post author: gwern 18 March 2013 07:54PM

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Comment author: Fadeway 18 March 2013 05:10:45PM *  0 points [-]

Is it useful to increase reading speed, even if it takes a minimal amount of time (to go from basic level to some rudimentary form of training)? I've always been under the impression that speed increases in reading are paid for with a comprehension decrease - which is what we actually care about. Or is this only true for the upper speed levels?

Comment author: gwern 18 March 2013 05:49:37PM 1 point [-]

I think it is. As I mention in my footnote, it's been a long time since I was reading up on the topic and I don't have any notes, but I recall the gist being that it's at the upper levels that you forfeit comprehension and that for lower speeds like <400wpm on nontechnical material you may even get better comprehension.

Comment author: TrE 21 March 2013 07:48:32AM 0 points [-]

In summary, it's useful to be capable of different reading speeds to adapt to the current task? Skimming (or Ctrl-F) for searching for useful text passages, fast reading for technical material one is familiar with, slow reading and re-reading for technical material one is not familiar with, slow dabbling in texts one reads for recreational purposes.