The eyes are used in an ineffective manner when reading a thin line of text. By filling also the vertical visual area with text, one reads faster and more efficiently.

Instead .reading .word .a . . . one . . two
of . . . . one . . . at . . .time, .reads .at

a . . . taking .50% . . .to . . . . . . . each
time, .only . . longer .comprehend .word

group. .do . .well, .not . . . . . . on
To . . . this .do . . concentrate .each

word, . . up . down .the . but . .and . both
jumping .and .with . eye .relax .scan .words

together.

This . . . .at . . .with . . . can . . word
feels . . . first, .practice .read . .groups
awkward .but . .one . . . .three- .easily.

Of . . . lines .closer .and . . . dots.
course .will . than . .without .Now
the . . .be . . here . .the . . . what’s

needed .editor .or . . .text .do
is . . . . to . . . triple .and . two
an . . . .double .write .to . . dimensional

grammar
checks.
-- FarmerJohn, Oct 15 2003

Boustrophedon http://en.wikipedia.../wiki/Boustrophedon
Term for alternate line reversal [csea, Oct 21 2006]

Oh .it, . . good. -oh
la . feels .Yes, . .baby,
la, .so . . .yes . . YEAH!

-- Tiger Lily, Oct 15 2003


Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at an Elingsh uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht frist and lsat ltteer is at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae we do not raed ervey lteter by it slef, but the wrod as a wlohe.
-- Helium, Oct 15 2003


I think I'm a little odd - when I read, I don't really read left-right, cr, lf, repeat... It's difficult to describe, but I flick around and use my perhipheral vision as well. So this idea works very nicely for me.

[Helium] I have a word jumbler on my website if you really want to test it out. :P
-- Detly, Oct 15 2003


Baked by the Chinese?
-- Cedar Park, Oct 16 2003


Det, I do the same. Typically *hit* a line two, maybe three times depending upon the length, picking up phrases at a time.
-- RayfordSteele, Oct 16 2003


Finally , a true variety of reading styles , the crazy does love .
-- wjt, Oct 16 2003


Rods Tiger: try reading the proposal in columns rather than across. For Helium's post, "Aoccdrnig" = according, "rscheearch" = research [hmm, extra letters there], etc. Helium, you've proved your point with me... well done.
-- ratsass, Oct 16 2003


O
u
c
h

My.....gone
eyes...squiffy
have
-- PeterSilly, Oct 16 2003


hint:

Instead .reading .word .a . . . one . . two
of . . . . one . . . at . . .time, .reads .at
=
Instead of reading one word at a time, one reads two at...
-- FarmerJohn, Oct 16 2003


It would be interesting to try to concoct poems where if you read it this way, or the "normal" way, you'd get two different results but both made sense.
-- krelnik, Oct 16 2003


I had that thought, too. It would be like the math puzzles with a grid to be filled in with numbers so that the sum of each row and column is the same, except in this case the words would have to build a sentence in each direction.
-- FarmerJohn, Oct 16 2003


Highly imaginative[FarmerJohn], well done. I can't tell if it is faster, but could well be. Can you make the editor cluster the word groups more clearly, as with a circle around them? Like reading a series of road signs? +
-- flypaper, Oct 16 2003


I have tried this using word. Group lines into narrow columns and reformat them. works fine. It is quite a bit faster to read this way once you practice. There is software that projects one word at a time centered on a spot on your screen, which lets your peripheral vision do all the work.
-- stringstretcher, Nov 04 2003


My response was oddly similar to [TigerLily]'s. I wonder what that's about then?

Big +
-- k_sra, Nov 04 2003


It might work better if smaller words were enlarged so that they are the same width as the bigger ones (not by kerning or justifying, though, as that would just create a lot of whitespace).
-- Detly, Nov 04 2003


You can try this with word by marking a text and setting the margnis to the narrowest you can. Make the text centered between margins and enlarge it so that it is easy to see. Make your window as small as possible, then place the curser at the beginning and scroll using the (down) arrow key. You will have two or three words on a line, but that is great! No need to read one line at a time, you can take in much more than you think. Scrolling also works with the mouse, although at a different rate. Try and see if you can do it. I can read more than double my normal rate, using this method.
-- stringstretcher, Nov 05 2003


I don't buy it. For most people anyway. Software that projects to the center of your vision, sure, because your eyes have to move less. But not for this. It's like mowing your lawn with the rows going short-wise - your eye spends more time going back to the top of the grouping. I'm willing to bet that with any amount of practice, the fastest reader with this method couldn't be as fast as the fastest reader with normal methods.

Not to say that particular people's method for absorbing information wouldn't work better with it. But it is by its very nature ineficient.
-- ooys, Jul 31 2004


I found two lines quick to read, after I figured the method out. Three is still too much for me with so little practice, but I think with some work it could become easier. [stringstretcher] do you have a link for the word projecting software? [Farmer] really neat idea. +
-- wittyhoosier, Oct 21 2006


Yeah, I really miss his presence on this site.
-- NotTheSharpestSpoon, Oct 21 2006


Ditto.

Don't know how missed this one.
-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Jul 01 2009



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