Reading and memory misconceptions

Here I want to address the common misconceptions of my students. Do not be surprised if you have some of them. Hope this will help you.

Today I address materials covered in three courses: the intro superlearning minicourse, memory masterclass and speedreading masterclass . Avail our these courses with special discounts. There’s no need to pay the full price. Get in touch with us at [email protected] and request a significant discount. Your satisfaction is assured.

Visualization

It is enough to memorize one word per paragraph to remember the text. Usually, this comes from the understanding of keywords (markers) as a text summary and not as search aids. You can probably find the right part of the text by a word or three words, but to comprehend the text properly you need around 9 words per paragraph. Try to recreate the text from chosen words and see what happens.
Visual memory is better than other kinds of memory. Visual memory is faster than other kinds of memorization, especially after some training. The speed wins memory competitions with very specific tasks. If the tasks were different, other kinds of memory might win. For example, memorization of music is typically not visual and musicians have a much better memory than most people.
Visualizations need to be tangible. Some people visualize better physical objects, others are better with symbols or flowcharts. You do not need a tangible visualization. Probably you will be wasting your time building it. The visualization should be meaningful (e.g. have a personal meaning for you), specific (e.g. do not take just one word per visualization: take more words and use them as details of the visualization), interesting (e.g. there should be something in the visualization to capture your attention). Tangibility is a distraction or a side-effect…
We should invest effort in our standalone visualization. The quickest, most memorable visualizations are usually effortless. Your first visual association may do the trick. The effort required placing the visualization in a memory structure or some other context is sufficient.

Memory

If the visualization is good we will remember it immediately. This can be true for a couple of hours – the time memory is typically measured. To remember something for a long time, we need to review the visualization many times. This is called “spaced repetitions”.
A single visualization should be memorable. The more visualizations we add, the harder it is to memorize. This might be true for beginners. With some experience, various visualizations enforce each other, create context and details for each other. A simple animation or peg method works well for 5-50 words. As we use mindmaps and mental palaces, the memorization is optimized for 50-500 words. With mental cities and mental forests [proprietary advanced methodology], 5000-50000 words. Of cause, each method comes with a steep learning curve.
If we remember something, we can easily recall it. The recall is a separate memory skill. We may need some key to get to the right memory structure, a sort of search keyword. Usually, we call it a marker or an anchor. Without it, we may need someone to provide us with the initial orientation in the correct memory structure. Not being able to recall something does not mean we do not remember it when we get the correct cue.
We can use the information we remember. In memory courses, we check the ability to retain information. We do not check comprehension, analysis or synthesis with the information. This would require transforming the information to knowledge or even wisdom, and we simply do not have the tools to test it. This does not mean that you can afford to simply memorize the info you read. We teach to ask questions, change perspectives, and approach the information creatively to provide some tools for generating knowledge. If our students fail to practice these tools, we do not currently have the methodology to test it.

Speedreading

As we read faster we remember less. This is true only if you reach your processing capacity. If you read too slow, you are likely to lose focus and stop following. And if you read something and focus not on the content but on how you read, you will start to lose critical issues.
If we know how to speedread something, we can speedread everything. This might be true for more skilled readers, yet as we change the language and the subject we need to re-learn some critical skills. It is easier than the initial learning curve, but it is still an effort. Quite often even the methodology needs to change.
I want to read 1200wpm with 80% comprehension. It is as hard as being a chess master. Are you willing to invest the years of training required to achieve this? The numbers are often meaningless. Easier texts can be read very fast, but more complex texts require us to slow down. Also, comprehension can be measured with very different granularity: from general concepts to specific details. The best readers in the world are positioned circa 5000wpm with 50% comprehension, 20000 wpm with 10% comprehension, 1500wpm at 90% comprehension. Getting 1200wpm with 60% comprehension or 600wpm with 80% comprehension is hard enough.
I want to read a text once and remember everything. This will require a relatively slow reading speed. It is easier to read fast and then reread, possibly more than once, focusing on specific “hard parts”. Quite possibly in the middle of the text, you will understand that the text does not deserve your attention. Flexibility is a better way.
I should not subvocalize. It is OK to subvocalize occasional keywords, names or complex logical flow. As long as your subvocalization is limited to ~10% of the text you should be OK with that. Trying to suppress subvocalization too earlier is more dangerous than not suppressing it at all.

Practice

It is OK to practice computer training without reading. Reading is by far more important than computer training. Computer training focuses on specific skills, but reading combines all the skills.
As long as I practice I should make progress. You should practice correctly to progress properly. If you did not understand something crucial, you will fail. When you practice tired or do not get enough sleep, the practice is not effective. If your sessions are too short, you will not gain the relevant experience.
How long should I wait till I see any improvement? Improvement in a particular skill is not sufficient for overall improvement. The skill should be properly integrated with other skills. When I practiced myself, there was a degradation in the first 3 months of practice, and only then there was an improvement.
I can do this alone. To be honest, about 60% of the students get good results without our support. With Anna’s 1:1 the statistics is above 95%. There are simply too many things that can go wrong, and each case is different.

Usability

I need the skills for my next exam. Some creativity and memory skills can be required in a month. Effectively this is enough for 15% higher grades. Speedreading takes about 6 months. Full masterclass training is similar in effort to BA degree. This requires patience and determination, but the results are well worth the investment.
Can I use this for code/law/medicine? Yes! The basic methodology works great with history, business, news. We provide specific adaptations for some subjects in 1:1 with Anna. Very successfully. I could not speedread effectively some advanced math texts, german philosophy, and poetry. Everything else so far worked.
If I learn the system, can I teach others? Teaching our methodology requires a very specific experience which deals with common issues. As far as I know, the required experience is distributed between Anna and me. We do not teach it. We provide enough tools for you to build your own methodology, which is often good enough.

Uniqueness

I got a Johathan Levi / Anthony Metivier / Tony Busan masterclass. Is there anything I can get from learning the keytostudy masterclasses? Some of our methodologies are shared with other masters, and some are proprietary ours. Both the approach and the methods we teach are profoundly unique. This comes from a very specific challenge: I had to learn huge subjects on my own several times. Our methods are built for MASSIVE acquisition of DIVERSE knowledge as well as dealing with resulting psychological issues.