Reading With the Right Brain: Read Faster by Reading Ideas Instead of Just Words (18 page)

In advance of the dogs,
on wide snowshoes,
toiled a man.
At the rear
of the sled
toiled a second man.
On the sled,
in the box,
lay a third man
whose toil was over—
a man whom
the Wild had conquered
and beaten down
until he would never move
nor struggle again.
It is not the way
of the Wild
to like movement.
Life is
an offence to it,
for life is movement;
and the Wild aims always
to destroy movement.
It freezes the water
to prevent it
running to the sea;
it drives
the sap
out of the trees
till they are frozen
to their mighty hearts;
and most ferociously
and terribly of all
does the Wild
harry and crush
into submission
man—
man who is
the most
restless of life,
ever in revolt
against the dictum
that all movement
must
in the end
come to the cessation
of movement.

But at front
and rear,
unawed
and indomitable,
toiled the two men
who were not yet dead.
Their bodies
were covered with fur
and soft-tanned leather.
Eyelashes
and cheeks
and lips were so coated
with the crystals
from their frozen breath
that their faces
were not discernible.
This gave them
the seeming
of ghostly masques,
undertakers
in a spectral world
at the funeral
of some ghost.
But under it all
they were men,
penetrating
the land of desolation
and mockery
and silence,
puny adventurers
bent on
colossal adventure,
pitting themselves
against
the might of a world
as remote
and alien
and pulseless
as the abysses of space.

They traveled on
without speech,
saving their breath
for the work
of their bodies.
On every side
was the silence,
pressing upon them
with a tangible presence.
It affected their minds
as the many atmospheres
of deep water
affect the body
of the diver.
It crushed them
with the weight
of unending vastness
and unalterable decree.
It crushed them
into the remotest
recesses
of their own minds,
pressing out of them,
like juices
from the grape,
all the false ardors
and exaltations
and undue self-values
of the human soul,
until they
perceived themselves
finite
and small,
specks
and motes,
moving with weak cunning
and little wisdom
amidst the play
and inter-play
of the great
blind elements
and forces.

An hour went by,
and a second hour.
The pale light
of the short sunless day
was beginning to fade,
when a faint far cry
arose on the still air.
It soared upward
with a swift rush,
till it reached
its topmost note,
where it persisted,
palpitant
and tense,
and then slowly
died away.
It might have been
a lost soul wailing,
had it not been invested
with a certain
sad fierceness
and hungry eagerness.
The front man
turned his head
until his eyes
met the eyes
of the man behind.
And then,
across the narrow
oblong box,
each nodded to the other.

A second cry arose,
piercing the silence
with needle-like
shrillness.
Both men
located the sound. It was to the rear, somewhere in the snow expanse they had just traversed. A third and answering cry arose, also to the rear and to the left of the second cry.

“They’re after us, Bill,” said the man at the front.

His voice sounded hoarse and unreal, and he had spoken with apparent effort.

“Meat is scarce,” answered his comrade. “I ain’t seen a rabbit sign for days.”

Thereafter they spoke no more, though their ears were keen for the hunting-cries that continued to rise behind them.

At the fall of darkness they swung the dogs into a cluster of spruce trees on the edge of the waterway and made a camp. The coffin, at the side of the fire, served for seat and table. The wolf-dogs, clustered on the far side of the fire, snarled and bickered among themselves, but evinced no inclination to stray off into the darkness.

“Seems to me, Henry, they’re stayin’ remarkable close to camp,” Bill commented.

Henry, squatting over the fire and settling the pot of coffee with a piece of ice, nodded. Nor did he speak till he had taken his seat on the coffin and begun to eat. “They know…

Chapter 10: Mindset

The proper mindset for effective reading requires both, paying more attention, and knowing what to pay attention to. You must also treat your attention like the precious and finite resource it is, and direct it at the real purpose of reading—
comprehension
.

Attention

It might seem that there is something mystical or magical about speed reading, or that it’s some awesome ability only a few lucky geniuses have. If this is what you think, then be prepared to go from being amazed to thinking, “What’s the big deal? It’s only about paying more attention.”

And that’s the truth; it is only about paying attention. But paying attention is really huge. “Attention” is your conscious mind. If you had zero attention, you would be comatose
—
barely alive. Having more attention is being more alive. Attention is the “you” in your brain. More attention means more you.

You might think that naturally you are paying attention, but attention is variable. Attention is not stuck at one level, and it’s not simply an on and off switch; it’s more like a dimmer switch that can be adjusted anywhere between very bright and very dim, and this adjustment varies throughout each day.

The power of attention also varies among different people. Just like any part of the physical body, each person’s mental processes can also be stronger or weaker than those of others. You could even conclude that some people are more conscious than others.

But believe it or not, the conscious mind can be strengthened with exercise. With regular reading exercise and good technique, you can stretch your memory, tighten your attention, and strengthen your intelligence. You can also learn to make more efficient use of the working memory of your conscious mind, maintain better concentration and focus, and suppress external and internal distractions.

Here’s a simple trick that will increase attention: pretend the reason you are reading something, is to explain it to someone else. Think, “How can I make this information clear? What is the gist of this material? How do the different parts fit together? How could I defend this idea if someone were to disagree with it?” But this really isn’t just a trick, because you
are
going to explain it to someone else—your future self.

Improving attention depends a lot on your mindset. In order to make good progress, your mind must be rested, fit, and positive. Imagine if you were at the gym. The first thing you would do is stretch to prepare your muscles and get them warmed up. Likewise, your brain should also be prepared before exercise so it can be in the right frame of mind, ready to concentrate and focus on the job at hand.

Relaxation

Prepare your brain for reading and learning by relaxing your mind and body. Relaxation clears your working memory, erasing that mental white board. Relaxation also calms the amygdala and prefrontal cortex, your emotional and conscious areas. These two areas work closely together and will communicate better when they are undistracted and uncluttered.

The amygdala is the hub of emotional responses and can produce a stimulating effect on the prefrontal cortex. The prefrontal cortex is the seat of executive function; it regulates your thoughts, actions, and emotions. There is a strong connection between these two regions and distractions in one will affect the other. Relaxing your mind clears the communication channel between them.

If you’re not sure how to relax and clear your mind, then try this. Close your eyes, and think of nothing but your breathing. Then, picture in your mind each letter of the words READ FASTER. Picture them one at a time, and imagine each one inflating and then deflating as you breathe in and then out. This exercise will accomplish two things: it will clear your mind of extraneous distractions, and it will also warm up the visualizing areas of your brain.

Another very easy trick is smiling! Strangely enough, the physical act of putting a smile on your face actually
creates
a positive mood, and a positive mood produces a relaxed and receptive mind. A positive mood even improves your vision, because happy and positive thoughts cause your pupils to dilate, letting in more light.

Purpose

It is also helpful to keep your goals in mind when deciding to read something. Any journey comes with some measure of apprehension. You may wonder: “How long will it take me? Will it be worth it? How will I feel if I fail to achieve this goal?”

Before investing in any goal, we want to know if it’s worth the effort by deciding how much effort it will take, what will be gained if we succeed, and what will be lost if we fail. But before we can know how much effort a reading task is worth, we need to be clear about the reading goals.

Having a clear goal will help any reading, regardless whether the goal is to hunt down specific knowledge or just indulge in recreation. Realize what you want, what it is worth, what it will cost you, and what you would be giving up if you forfeited it. Being clear about your goal will clear the road ahead, enabling you to focus undistracted attention on your reading, regardless of whether you’re reading a difficult textbook or a trashy novel.

All reading has a purpose because it all adds knowledge—either knowledge of the world as it exists, or of its possibilities—either increasing your intelligence, or your empathy. And all knowledge changes you, because you literally become more of what you read. So decide on your reason for reading and read with motivation. Then read aggressively by actively seeking the information, not just waiting for it to occur to you.

Patience

It’s also important to be patient with yourself. Don’t be overly concerned about how long it’s taking you to finish reading something. Your attention is limited, so pay attention to what you are doing right now rather than how far you are from the end. You’ve set your course, now keep your eyes on the road directly in front of you. Ignore the little voice in the back of your mind asking, “Are we there yet? Are we there yet?” Worrying about your progress only leads to performance anxiety. You know where you’re going; you know how to get there. Now, relax and enjoy the scenery. Be patient. Your goal is to read and understand the material, so concentrate on visualizing the information, and you will get there faster.

You should also accept that you still may not always understand everything you read. But when you come across something that is troublesome, stop and see if you can figure out why it is giving you a problem. If it is still not clear, then make note of it, continue reading, and see if it becomes clear later.

Practice Exercise #10

As you read this next practice exercise, relax, be patient, and concentrate on imagining what you are reading. Attention, relaxation, purpose, and patience are important ingredients, although these should not require your conscious effort. By concentrating on the conceptual nature of what you read, you will automatically be paying more attention, be more relaxed and read with purpose and patience. You will be filling your mind with conceptual ideas, and therefore will just naturally avoid distractions, tension, confusion, and impatience.