Reading is a complex process that involves the brain's visual and auditory processes, phonemic awareness, fluency and comprehension. There are billions of pages available to read online, along with billions of print books sold every year. All this choice is making us want to skim our reading, as we are short of time.
There are trade-offs in this 'speedy' approach, as we are sacrificing the quality of understanding over the quantity of information.

Skimmed Read

The speed-reading habit is making us lose our deep attention and focus, gradually shunning denser, more complicated content. Instead of optimizing for speed, we need to optimize for comprehension, deep understanding, and retention of information.
Deep or slow reading, when the brain is attentive, absorbing, understanding and analyzing text expands our attention span and improves concentration and learning.

Slow Is Good

The brain develops stronger analytical skills and gets into critical thinking mode, forming new connections and even creates new ideas.
Deep focusing on a book is one of the best investments of your time.

Better, Not Faster Reading

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To expand your knowledge, become a voracious slow reader 
<a href="https://medium.com/@alltopstartups?source=post_page-----d84db86a1e43----------------------"><img src="https://miro.medium.com/fit/c/96/96/2*65nmFZIRHwW-0FnzLeCqew.jpeg"> </a> Millions of books are published every year. 675 million print books were sold two years ago in the U.S. alone, according to Statista. The indexed web contains at least 6.19 billion pages.
So much to read, so little time.
In a world obsessed with speed, it's no surprise that many of us are choosing to skim or speed read. Digital content overload is turning us into a world of skim-readers with consequences for this generation and the next one.
Fast reading allows you to hone in on what is important to your purpose. You can save time, become a fast reader, briefly learn about new ideas quicker and possibly read more books when you speed read.
Fast or skim reading is a fundamental reading skill for a lot of people who need to find valuable information in the shortest possible time.
When you embrace skimming, the brain builds a system to lower the cognitive load to maximise brain energy.
But there is a downside. A <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1529100615623267">study</a> conducted by scientists from the University of California, MIT and Washington University found that there is a trade-off between speed and accuracy.
Reading involves several brain functions, including visual and auditory processes, phonemic awareness, fluency, comprehension, and more. "It is unlikely that readers will be able to double or triple their reading speeds (e.g., from around 250 to 500-750 words per minute) while still being able to understand the text as well as if they read at normal speed," the authors summarised.
With so much to read and learn, our brains are learning to form shortcuts to deal with it all - scanning, searching for valuable phrases, scrolling up and down quickly. In the process, can are losing deep attention and focus.
Speed can sacrifice comprehension and deep thinking - you don't truly understand all of those words when you skim.
As you improve your skimming habit, your brain gradually avoids denser, more complex analyses, even those that are readily available.
At some point, you will no longer have the cerebral patience to plough through a long and demanding article or book unless you are really interested in the topic.
Keith Rayner, the editor of <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Movements-Information-Processing-During-Reading/dp/184169956X">Eye Movements and Information Processing During Reading</a>, argues "You can practice going faster and you probably will, but when you start going too fast you'll start losing comprehension. Most speed reading methods involve getting rid of subvocalization. <a href="http://books.google.com/books/about/The_Causes_of_High_and_Low_Reading_Achie.html?id=kSO6WvArafUC">Research shows</a> that when you do that and the text is difficult, <a href="http://works.bepress.com/marcel_just_cmu/84/">comprehension goes to pieces</a>."
So, in short: Speed reading anything you need to truly comprehend is probably a bad idea. Instead of trying to optimise for speed, optimise for comprehension and retention.
<h2>Slow reading is the path to deep learning</h2>
The quality of your reading has a huge impact on how you think.
According to The Shallows, a new book by technology sage Nicholas Carr, our hyperactive online habits are damaging the mental faculties we need to process and understand lengthy textual information.
We're spending so much time scrolling, bookmarking, linking, and jumping through text that when we sit down with a great book, our skimming habits interfere with our slow reading process.
In her book, Reader Come Home: The Reading Brain In A Digital World, Maryanne seeks to understand what's happening to our brains at a time when information overload is increasingly becoming a problem for many people.
She writes: "Do you, my reader, read with less attention and perhaps even less memory for what you have read? Do you notice when reading on a screen that you are increasingly reading for keywords and skimming over the rest? Has this habit or style of screen reading bled over to your reading of hard copy? Do you find yourself reading the same passage over and over to understand its meaning?"
For many people who are accustomed to skim-reading digital content, they are likely to avoid reading anything that appears hard to understand or takes time. Reading slowly to comprehend information is not cognitively easy for many people.
But slow reading has a lot of benefits. Reading expands your knowledge of language and the world in ways that increase reading skill, making it easier and more enjoyable to read.
Deep or slow reading (attentive reading, absorbing, understanding and analysing text) also expands your attention span. It helps improve concentration by increasing the capacity for longer attention spans.
Slow reading improves learning and comprehension. Taking time (even 30 minutes) to read something will help your brain make useful connections between current and past content.
Slow reading puts your brain to work and also builds stronger analytical skills. When you take time to understand all the ideas an author is conveying, your brain takes notes of all of the details and gets into critical thinking mode.
It tries to figure out how the information can be synced with your existing ideas or how the new information can build new perspectives for the future. This skill can be used on a day-to-day basis, not only when reading.
If you are aiming for deep, lasting knowledge that can be used in the future to solve life's challenges, create new ideas, and synthesize novel solutions, embrace slow reading.
To cultivate a slow reading habit, pick a book you will enjoy - Anything that captures your interest and your imagination, commit to reading at least one page every day. Set a reading time and place. This could be just before going to sleep, while in your bed. Or on your way to work in the morning.
If you are going to invest time reading for knowledge, plan for it, do the work for your brain's benefit. Some people find it easier to read regularly if they invest in a Kindle. Others prefer physical copies. Do what works for you.
"Slow reading doesn't have to wait, but it is better if it's scheduled. Blocking chunks of time dedicated to deep focus on a book is one of the best investments you can make for your mind. Instead of trying to read faster, strive to read better, <a href="https://nesslabs.com/speed-reading">writes</a> Anne-Laure Le Cunff of Nes Labs.
Next time you have a bit of free time, consider picking up a book instead of skimming or speed reading. Your brain will thank you. In a fast-moving age there is still time for slow reading.
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To expand your knowledge, become a voracious slow reader Millions of books are published every year. 675 million print books were sold two years ago in the U.S. alone, according to Statista. The indexed web contains at least 6.19 billion pages. So much to read, so little time.

In The Age of Skim Reading, Slow Reading is For Deep Learners

Skimmed Read

Slow Is Good

Better, Not Faster Reading

Mark D.'s ideas are part of this journey:

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