Can you read 900 words per minute? (opens in new tab)

It depends on the density of the information and general complexity of the sentences and ideas. This exercise kept the ideas rather simple, but an old Dickens novel or a complex text-book would be much harder.

Note that English audiobooks are typically around 150-170 wpm and fast talkers speak around 200 wpm.

I feel like I’ve seen half a dozen HN submissions about this 900 WPM speed reading "barrier", and I’ll say it again: color me unconvinced until a proper study is done that measures people’s WPM alongside both their short-term and long-term recall.

Anecdotally, my ability to remember what I’ve read seems directly proportional to how much time I spend quietly reflecting on each section of a paper.

Speed reading seems more like a parlour trick than anything else.

Pleasures like reading are to be savoured not devoured

I didn't think I could, but it turns out I can.

Should you?