PhotoReading - Photo Reading Australia, beyond speedreading - Is science going to explain how PhotoReading works

Is science going to explain how PhotoReading works?

There is a lot of research out there that can explain why PhotoReading works however none would be considered the be all end all proof.

The research into the working of the eyes is fascinating and still ongoing as is research into the brain. What we thought we knew is only the tip of the iceberg and the discoveries being make are showing us that we are capable of much more. Some skills like PhotoReading are lets do it and see what happens and the proof that 'yeah it does work that way we can see it in the brain', comes later.

I think if you watch the DVD "What the Bleep do We Know "you'll learn there is a lot going on in our mind.

The eyes do not see it's the mind that sees. And the mind can prevent us from seeing what we cannot understand. The eyes are like camera's taking it all in and it's the mind that process the information. We have an agreement that what we focus on with the fovea is what the mind we are conscious of. Everything else picked up by the eyes goes into the peripheral awareness. How green the grass is, what flowers are in bloom. The hole we don't want to walk into on the footpath. and the detour sign up ahead were all in our peripheral awareness and if we don't need the information in the present moment in time it stays there.

The stuff that falls into our peripheral awareness is still processed by our brain or mind, which processes billions of bits of information per second. Where our conscious mind is only aware of about 2000 bits of information per second. If we need to be aware of it consciously or taught ourselves that it is acceptable to perceive this information it becomes conscious. We have an internal buffer that prevents us from being overloaded with information. That buffer can for the sake of simplicity be called our beliefs, self-image, self-expectation. The internal buffer probably also works to keep us in our social realities.

Is something going on with the eyes and mind that we don't know about? In a word YES.

In October 1995 Rice University Houston released some research that demonstrated preconscious processing or blind sight in sighted people. Blind people have demonstrated this for years and it's never been fully understood. Now they proved that even sighted people have this skill.

One can wonder if we all have this skill how are we using it? There have been a number of researchers who have pointed out that we are not consciously processing information. It's evidence that almost all of it is done pre-consciously. However science has been slow at demonstrating this with measurable research. But now thanks to Rice University Houston we have that measurable demonstration of pre-conscious processing.

What they did. (Without being too technical I offer a brief explanation of the research.)

They blinded some volunteers using electromagnets so the effect was temporary. While they subject was blind they flashed an image onto the computer screen. When they asked the subject to say whether the image was vertical or horizontal the subjects since the subjects were visually blinded consciously they saw nothing. So they asked the subject to guess. They guessed correctly 75% When they were asked to guess the colour of the dot red or green they guessed correctly 81% of the time. In fact this is too high an accuracy for chance guessing.

"In addition to providing direct evidence that unconscious processing takes place within the brain - a controversial claim that was advanced by the likes of Sigmund Freud and William James - our results suggest that multiple pathways relay visual input into the central nervous system for different types of processing," Ro said. "And our study also begins to shed light on the brain structures that are necessary for consciousness, with the primary visual cortex playing an essential role for visual awareness." Link

Why is PhotoReading around for 21 years before we have perfect scientific proof that it works?

Paul Scheele decided if one person in 100 can do it naturally it stand to reason that others could do it too if someone could work out how they do it and then work out a way of teaching others. He figured it out and developed the course and continues to improve the course. This isn't really much different than a master teaching his student to break concrete blocks with their bare hands. The only requirements are someone who can do it who can teach it and someone willing to learn from them.

The teaching others part would be easier if we didn't have to prove it to the generations who've spent years using the slower traditional method.. I've taught kids just about to enter high school and they surpassed the adults.

I love the way the kids dealt with the boring adult books and contributed to the discussion which many adults found daunting. They didn't need proof because they are still in the learning mode. They are open minded enough to just do it.

Advertisers have known for decades that the public is capable of seeing and recognising images with their peripheral awareness. They got results and did it more often.. That's why advertising signs are so abundant and yet distinctive so it triggers a need to bring it to primary awareness, sometimes. We can be busy driving and still notice landmarks and signs with our peripheral awareness and as soon as we recognise something that is important to us, thanks to the Reticular activating system our attention draws it to our primary consciousness.

PhotoReading merely turns around and says, 'Hey...The mind has a preconscious processor that works at lightning speed. Lets take advantage of that and dump what we read into that part of the mind and bypass primary consciousness by bypassing primary focus. Just change our focus and turn down the conscious mind and let the non-conscious mind do what it does so brilliantly.'

This way thousands of PhotoReaders have experience first hand that it works and you can get your reading done a whole lot faster.

It's may not have had a satisfactory scientific explanation why it works. No more than science has been successful in explaining how we can read in the first place. We get results by 'just do it.' And it's like any activity, some babies take longer to start walking than others.

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Kaye W Lee
BA Econ (Hons)
University of Cambridge 2004

Writes...
Thanks to Alex's coaching, I tripled my study speed within three months, only to have it triple again three months later. My grade rose from a 2.1 to a First Class. The next year, I completed a dissertation on a topic that had decades' worth of articles...and got a First Class on that too!

In the first evening I was confused and doubt what is PhotoReading about and can it really help.

With English as my second language I can hardly finish to read a book or even a chapter. After 2 days workshop I can finish to read a chapter within 8 minutes. I am confident I can improve.
Andrew Yeung
Hong Kong 2005

Sometimes in life we have to let go of what we know and, Trust. This is one of those times and the results are outstanding.
Roger Hardie
New Zealand, 2006

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