Reading and Vision

Contemplating reading just now, thinking about speed reading in particular, something I learned how to do as a child, there was a book on it as I recall, and thinking about how I used to learn, as a student, listening, mostly listening, but also taking notes, copying those notes over again, neatly, usually the same day, clarifying any issues of confusion along the way, and then reading it all over again a time or two before the purge, the exam, but really, lots of that stuff I did really learn, quite well, over time, in the work place, and that was my method, thinking about that offered me kind of an interesting insight about reading and vision and learning.

At least for me.

Learning was auditory first, always, listening, paying attention, then that weird translational thing that happens when ideas are put on paper, and for me always it was written, with pen, not pencil, on paper, lots of really great doodles in the margins, too, to keep me occupied while just listening, because really, the professor could talk for ten minutes and often I could summarize what she was saying in a couple of sentences, not try to write down every word, which just slays me, how many kids think that’s what they’re supposed to do, copy words off a PowerPoint, not listen, I so totally quit putting words on my Power Points when I taught, used the pictures, for sure, epically handy, we didn’t have those when I was a student, PowerPoints, had to draw, too, but I’d remember the rest of what was said, because auditory was really it, but then also reinforced with the writing of notes and reading them and drawing pictures.

I did have a student once, not a biology major, journalism I think, who just sat and listened and never wrote down a word and aced everything always in my non-majors biology course, just amazing, not easy, at all, but those folks are rare. He told me he was 100% auditory. Of course he was quite bright, too.

But for me, the interesting thing was when I was doing that purge for the exam, I could sit back and close my eyes and look for the answer to that question in my notes, or at least see it there, down in the lower right quadrant of that page, next to that bunch of paisley fractals, that’s where the bit about the LD flip is written, there is the answer I’m looking for.

Boom.

But the speed reading thing, and reading and vision, basically the overarching premise was that one could look at a page in a book, the whole thing, and not so much “scan” as in the sense of a scanner and making an exact image, word for word, every punctuation mark, no, but one could look at that page and in a series of quick glances, pick out all the important words and glean meaning, at least for most written works.

And I found that to be true, still do, and often find myself thinking when reading something online, first, why is it taking you four freaking paragraphs to introduce the point of this piece, which should be done in paragraph one so I can decide if I have any interest in reading further, and why have you beaten this particular point to death, said the same thing fifteen times using different words, and what on earth does this thousand word essay have to do with the title you’ve attached to it?

But I’m digressing.

So back when I was a kid I could do that speed read thing, boom, and then take the test on my verbal acuity and ace it, those questions that asked what the thing you’ve just read says, easy peasy, nothing to it, boom. And still, with the vast majority of things that I read, online or off, I do prefer off, online is hard on the eyes, the vision, and aha, we’re back to vision, most things I can still just go boom boom boom through those paragraphs very quickly, get the gist of it, and then decide if I want to take the time to read much more carefully,

The degree of irritation I feel when one sentence in a thousand word essay holds the salient point, and it’s hidden somewhere between words 432 and 657, well, it’s an exponential degree, for sure. I guess that’s why so many folks pick a sentence to post when they share something online, see if they can grab a reader by the eyes and draw her in.

Visual acuity is one of those things that has really, really declined for me as I’ve aged. My vision was, like, beyond 20/20 when I was young, I could read that bottom line on the vision chart, always. Now? I’m up to at least x2.5 and sometimes x3 on my reading glasses, helpless without them for most things that require I actually see something, up close, in detail.

I’m really picky about what I read. Oddly, a “visual” YouTube or whatever, unless it includes written words, something I can scan, quickly, has to grab me within 30 seconds, max, or I’m gone. Way too slow. 

But every once in a while, I do decide to sit back and take my time with a read, to look at every single word, every single sentence, in great detail. What’s really odd is what does grab me, what requires that I read and savor every word, think about what the author is saying.

Infinite Jest. So. Many. Words. Back and forth to the endnotes. So much, so much, some, eh, starting to feel like babble, and then a sentence so beautiful, or profound, or heartbreaking, or just so meaningful that to have missed it would have been tragic. There are some books like that, or have been, for sure. Some writers like that.

But what is interesting is how my ability to speed read, or my interest in speed reading, has declined with my vision. It’s much more difficult to look at a page full of little words and separate the important ones from the flotsam. While I won’t rule out the possibility (well, certainty) that writers of today serve up a whole lot more of the flotsam, on average, than did those of a few decades ago as having an effect, I’m pretty sure that the effort it actually takes for my eyes to focus on the written word has had quite an impact, too.  It’s a whole lot more work than it used to be. 
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Still, sometimes, it’s worth it.