How slow reading can change your brain

How does a world of speed and information impact our brains, our culture, and the architecture that supports learning?

Want to be a part of producing these videos? Follow this link:

JOIN MY NEWSLETTER:

BOOKS
A History of Reading - Alberto Manguel

Principles - Ray Dalio

Stock Footage and Music

MY FAVOURITE TOOLS:

WHO AM I:
I'm Dami, a licensed Architect living in Vancouver, BC. I make videos about architecture, career, and creativity.

GET IN TOUCH:

[DamiLeeArch]

Here are all of the published videos of this 5 episodes series

[jayperz]

I've always been a slow reader and I never understood how people I knew could read so fast. It made me feel really dumb at times. But I've come to love reading slowly because it gives me time to play everything I'm reading out in my mind. I even end up developing different voices for characters and make it a little movie in my brain. It makes reading way more enjoyable to me and I can retain the story or information so much better.

[angelawesneski]

As a librarian, libraries are one of the only public spaces where people can exist without paying for anything. Making these spaces as open as possible for a diverse set of experiences, not just reading, is crucial. That said, having a large reading room or a reading floor that prioritizes silence, focus, and reading, fulfills this need while still acting as a center for community resources.

[Christopher-ubcx]

"it's not even really about speed, it's about regaining the quality of the experience that we lose in the process of speeding up" --> so true, and brilliantly conveyed 🙏

[lampboy]

I am South Korean but, in S.Korea I think, students including me are almost forced to read fast directly and indirectly because we have to comprehend ridiculously long writings in order to solve problems in limited time in exam. That means, reading speed can affect students' grade in school. And since school grades are very important in living S.Korea and I wasn't a "fast reader" I almost felt guilty of it but, I stumbled across this video! It came as a consolation to me. I think the current world needs more appreciation to slow readers. Thanks for such a gread video!

[steventaylor]

This is something that musicians have always known. Slow practice sets in the brain much better than hurried practice. I believe this principle is applicable to many other disciplines and experiences in life.

[katashley]

Slow living in general changes everything. Health improves, sleep deepens, happiness increases. Slow everything down.

[artlesscalamity]

It has been interesting to watch the rise of the “slowness movement” as a reaction to tech-heavy efficiency culture. I lived this way accidentally in my 20s, disconnecting from the grid and from my social and economic expectations to travel leisurely and live in a van. It was the happiest time of my life, and led to my most vivid memories and most sincere relationships.

I’ve read some books that touch on this - In Praise of Slowness by Honoré and a book by Jay Griffiths called A Sideways Look At Time.

[elizknight]

My mom and I like to discuss books we've both read. She reads a book a day and I read a book in about a week. She has great grasp of the plots and remembers all of the character names. I like to map out on paper all the relationships. And I appreciate the nuance and the poetry of the author's expression. Since I'm an editor, I like to pay attention to sentence construction and punctuation. We each come away with what we want from reading. We're both retired so don't have the pressure of having to squeeze our reading experience into busy days.

[annjay]

As a child I was a natural speed reader and would go through an entire book every night. My mom was desperate because she could barely keep up with library visists :D
But when I went to University and started reading both academic books that were very dense with information as well as classics with beautiful language, I started to realise that I was missing out on a lot by reading that fast. I was just skimming through books and didnt really remember important words or was able to appreciate the prose.
Trying to read slow again is really hard and annoying, but its so worth it!

[misty.]

This is actually one of my problems these days. I love reading slow and to dive in more when I am studying but school is just too much, they just want everything to be pour into our minds like a sponge. They are more of a memorizing game than a learning place

[jamxtube]

I recently retired after 27 years as an elementary school teacher. I taught every grade from pre-K to 6th. And, of course, I taught reading every day of my career. Along with sound pedagogy and best practices, who we are as people greatly affects how we teach. Over the years of my career, the total number of words that a student decoded within a minute, not necessarily understood, became a basic data point with which to evaluate a student not only as a reader, but also to assess their future trajectory as a learner. I am and have always chosen to be a slow reader. I always taught the program selected by my school district and I always administered the assessments and evaluations mandated by them, too. But nearly every day I shared with my students the fact that throughout my years as a student and my professional years as a teacher, I was always the slowest reader in the room. However, I also shared the fact that I was almost always the one who best understood and was best able to make use of the text.

[cissabonissi]

I'm shocked at the quality of the video, and how you convey the information so clearly. Congratulations !
I didn't know your channel, but I'll follow

[reedrichards]

It reminds me of Ray Bradbury talking about Fahrenheit 451. He said everyone was exposed to a multitude of ideas, but not many of them actually explored them or understood them intimately. So much extensity but not nearly enough intensity.

My uncle was a wooden furniture craftsman and was used to say : "quickly made, wrongly made. Fast and smart doesn't exist." He was used to add : "If you want to make something good at once, then make it bad twenty times beforehand."
Interesting video, thanks for sharing.

[rayneishalowe]

I find this video extremely important for me. Even though I'm more of an artist than a writer. Often, when I try to draw fast, I end up skipping important steps and messing up the drawing. I realize now that regardless of whether you're drawing or writing, a little patience goes a long way. 😊🎨

[ADArtworks]

I agree that doing something slowly can create a deeper connections and emotions for you and the things you do. I realized that when I travel alone, I was able to capture the surroundings more. It feels like I tend to rush on what to do and what to see and fail to capture the best sceneries and the spirit of the place when I travel with people.

[klovercoveredkleo]

This really comforted me. My friends and family have always remarked, even sometimes be annoyed by the fact that I am slow, or at least take a long time, in just about everything I do: eating, reading, studying, walking, washing, you name it. So watching this video has made me feel somewhat validated that I don’t have to be ashamed for taking my time, and that it may actually be a good thing 😌

[rlquinn]

Though I'm a little disappointed that the video was not at all the psychological deep dive I expected from the title—there was only the briefest mention of slower reading leading to more qualitative connections in thinking—the overall musings on the architecture of libraries and other reading spaces definitely has me intrigued! I'm glad this popped up in my recommendations and I will be checking out more of your work. Thank you!

[iangardiner]

I like how you bring philosophical elements into your presentation, Dami. I enjoy listening to and contemplating your ideas about how objects and memories meld together in the individual, and how spaces themselves have imprints on our other senses, not just the proprioception sense.