Reading Fast & Furiously

How reading faster affects our ability to retain information

Have you seen the new Fast X movie? It’s the latest instalment from the Fast & Furious franchise. You can probably guess that I’m a BIG fan. The lead character, Dom Toretto, is like a superhero in a car. There’s practically no challenge he can’t overcome with his vehicle. Earlier this week we watched Fast X, and, without giving anything away, it exceeded all expectations. The common theme throughout all of the movies is speed. Talking of speed, the one area in which I would love to enhance my own speed is reading. I’m always envious of the people who say they are able to finish a book in a matter of days. Wouldn’t it be cool to become the Dom Toretto of reading?

The American Time Use survey found that between 2004 and 2017, there had been a 40% decline in the number of men who read for pleasure. The number of women reading had also declined by 29%. Gallup found that 57% of Americans do not finish a single book in a year. No wonder we are seeing a decline in book sales.

Obviously, the internet and the digitisation of books explain why this decline is happening. But is it better to read from paper or a screen? Professor Anne Mangen who studies Literacy at Stavanger University in Norway has come to an interesting conclusion on this very question. Her research has shown that paper encourages us to read in a linear fashion and encourages us to focus on what we are reading. However, screens lead us to scan and skim. Our eyes jump from one section to another. After some time, our brains become conditioned to read in this way even on paper.

Continuing my analogy of the Fast & Furious movies, I need to upgrade my car and start reading from a screen. But the research also found that this form of reading creates a less pleasurable reading experience. Rather than going on a long drive and enjoying the surroundings, we end up dashing to the shops to beat the traffic. Professor Anne Mangen has also found that we retain information presented on paper much better than via a screen. She refers to this as ‘screen inferiority’.

So my need for speed may be a flawed strategy after all, and Dom Toretto should probably stick to driving cars.

Want more practical tips on how to read more?

In episode 27 of the Superpowers School podcast, I spoke to Noel Warnell about tips on how we can read 100 books in a year. Noel also shared insights into how we can break our habit of Tsundoku (the Japanese word for the stack of books you've purchased but haven't read).

You can check out the full episode here:

Enjoy fast cars?

If you enjoy fast cars, then be sure to check out episode 43 with Penny Mallory, Former British Rally Championship Driver.

The research in this newsletter was inspired by the book Stolen Focus: Why you can’t pay attention by Johann Hari.