WordFlashReader - NFTFOH*

Now that I am getting this laptop settled I am interested in re-acquiring some of my favorite applications. WordFlashReader (WFR) is high on my list.

WFR uses Rapid Serial Visual Presentation (RSVP <-- Classic geek joke, that.)

WFR represents, in my view, the perfect marriage of computer technology and human capabilities. Beginning in 1986 I complained that PCs were slow and incapable of meeting the demands placed upon them by their human owner/operators. Silly me, I expected multi-tasking from my 8088 based computer. (Anyone remember GeoWorks?)

WFR is actually a very simple program. It takes text files as input and presents them to the user one. word. at. a. time. at a variable speed which can be very FAST! One description of WFR suggests that it 'infuses' the words of the text directly into your brain.

It turns out that when I read using conventional methods I tend to do a lot of extraneous thinking at the same time. I am trying to cognitively 'understand' what the author is saying at the same time I am trying to input their written words. Often I am trying to relate what is happening in the story I am reading to what is or has happened in my life. Or I am projecting or 'second guessing' the story on a sentence by sentence basis. I end up trying to tell the story my way while I am reading the author's words.

As a point of reference I can still do a great deal of what I just said when WFR is presenting at 270 WPM (a little over 4 words per second.) This is a good speed to start with. It allows me to become focused. Once I begin to feel 'in the groove' I will begin to increase the speed to 329 or higher. It is at this speed that I become aware that I cannot 'afford' to divert my attention with extraneous cognitive thought processes. I am sure that this is roughly the same as other 'speedreading' techniques. Remove the noise from the information input process and let the brain run at its speed when acquiring data.

As a personal test I have set about 'reading' Emanual Kant's The Critique of Pure Reason. For the purposes of this test I am allowing WFR to present at 967 WPM. My intent is to simply have the entire work impressed or infused in my psyche. I do not actually expect to quote or even reflect on any given passage. Once this first 'read' is complete then I will run WFR at a slower speed. My hypothesis is that once I have it as a foundation at high speed I will be able to cognitively process it at a lower speed.

Side note: Ulysses by James Joyce is well suited to this 'streaming' in part I believe because of Joyce's stream-of-consciousness style.

* NFTFOH

Not For The Faint Of Heart

Don't get me wrong, I love PERL but... you have to really love PERL in order to get WFR running (under Linux).