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Speed reading!! NO CAP!!

2026-09-05

The Real Bottleneck in Speed Reading Isn’t Comprehension — It’s Memory

I spent about two minutes today thinking through the real issue behind speed reading, and copilot got nailed it perfectly:

The problem isn’t comprehension. It’s memory.

Everyone — no matter their WPM — struggles with recall. You can understand something perfectly in the moment, but if you can’t retrieve it later, it’s no use to you. That’s the real bottleneck.

This applies to 99% of literate people. Just ask someone 2 years out of college what they remember from school.

I genuinely believe most people have a form of photographic memory — not in the sci‑fi sense, but in the sense that the brain stores far more than we can consciously access. The limitation isn’t storage. It’s retrieval. Without a trigger, a cue, or a recall pathway, the memory might as well not exist. Not sure how true this is, hard to tell, but I'm pretty sure (80%) it's more true than naught.

My theory — not proven, but intuitive — is that the human brain contains exponentially more knowledge than we ever manage to regurgitate. The data is there. The access layer is the problem. It's stored in the subconscious, so there's no way without specific conceptual frameworks or just pure luck or triggers to recall most of this knowledge.

Tangentially sort of related but turns out smelling is very good for your brain health and can help prevent cognitive decline especially in old people. I believe a few novel studies have shown promising results. The actionable advice here is to get some essential oils and an aromatic diffuser, which is basically a smaller humidifier you put the essential oils in. I think in the next decade we will see aroma therapy become extremely prevalent in everyday life and in people's homes across the globe.

Speed Reading, Memory, and the Asymmetric Advantage

If I improve my speed reading, it won’t just make me better at reading. It’ll make me better at chess. And if I improve at chess, it’ll feed back into my reading. Both skills rely on pattern recognition, rapid evaluation, and structured memory.

These are just two examples, there are way more to be able to count. It’s an asymmetric force multiplier in all areas of life regarding intelligence and human potential.

Like I said a few days ago, at least please for the love of God watch some videos at 2x speed. If you're not already doing that. Please do not listen to audiobooks at 1x speed. Please please please please. You're literally wasting half your time. Sure might be tough for the first book or so but you'll adjust quicker than you think.

If you struggle with 2x speed watch a video with the sub titles. Soon you won't need them; I'm at 4x speed no problem with subtitles. 3x speed without is very doable too, at least for content that is not novel or for easier content. Which nowadays there is a surplus of easier content to engage with, some of it is actually pretty good.

Also, definitely important to note that for literally ever person who reads, if the content is difficult or novel (think high level research papers, older writing from esteemed authors, and technical documentation) you'll need to slow down. Doesn't matter if you're the fastest reader ever you'll need to dramatically slow down. Most reading done everyday is nothing like that though thankfully.

One more thing just to note if you're trying to increase you're reading speed, stick to your main language of choice. Unless you're a real polyglot - a multilingual genius. It's logical but important to know. I'm not saying don't do it just to not feel discouraged if you're struggling at first. Feel free to try it in other languages if you think you're up to the challenge.

Right now, I’m comfortably around 500 WPM, which already puts me in the top 7% of readers — above elite college students and comparable to trained speed readers. The only time I slow down is when I hit extremely dense or novel material like I said.

Most content today is so low‑effort that it barely counts as a challenge. The real obstacle is memory — not the act of reading itself. But with practice and a hard work ethic, I’m confident I can overcome that too.

Honestly, I’m the perfect candidate for this. My natural affinities, interests, and physiological makeup all point toward being able to push into the 600+ WPM range with retention intact.

But why stop there? I'll try to get it as high as possible. The first goal is a PROVABLE 600 WPM without any sort of strained effort. Also working on two apps, well 3 if you count my sped up audio fixer app. One to practice speed reading, and one

The Perceived Bonus: Status gains & Resume Boost

There’s also a pretty fantastic side effect: Once it’s provable that I can read at 600+ WPM, people will treat me differently if they even just partly understand the implications.

Not because speed reading is some magic trick, but because the implications of that ability are hard to ignore. It signals discipline, intelligence, and efficiency.

This is not even a consideration for me doing this (that would be pride, the apex of all sin), but it's a logical derivation. May not be worth mentioning and I don't want to come across as egotistical. I'm doing this PURELY for the love of the game, and for the perceived cognitive boost, which I'm pretty sure will be MASSIVE if it works out like I'm planning. Might even work out better than that!! I'm keeping my hopes high.

The Path Forward

The goals are clear:

Speed reading is a foundational skill and a force multiplier. It should aid me in everything else I want to accomplish.

Just gotta keep stacking wins.