Reading VS Skimming — Pros And Cons
There’s always the debate of if reading or skimming is the better method to, well, reading. What are the advantages of each, and what are the disadvantages of each? Why would anyone choose one over the other? Here’s some answers for wondering souls.
Reading
Reading, in this context, will be defined as the reading of at least 90% of the words written in the book. And when I mean that, I mean, ‘you process every single (of that 90%) words in your consciousness’. And, if anyone with a mind knows, your consciousness is not very fast, nor does it have an efficient processing speed. In fact, it’s the slowest part of your brain.
So why would you read every single word?
You might be reading a textbook, and you might feel inclined to read every single word. Or you might be reading that way because your kindergarten teacher told you that reading is equivalent to reading in your head. You most likely have not been taught how to not read that way, and you probably got into that habit.
As you might guess, this is a highly inefficient way of reading unless your head is able to talk very fast. But at the same time, you’ll be processing every single word, so theoretically speaking, your comprehension should increase, when compared to skimming text. It really depends individually, and how fast you’re reading the text, however, sometimes, you’ll find yourself getting tired and none of the text being processed by your head. Your mind finds your pace too fast or too slow, making it signal that you’re tired. This will decrease your comprehension. How much sleep you got, and the quality of the sleep also contributes to how much reading translates to comprehension.
There are clear benefits of reading, but there are definite downsides as well.
Skimming
Skimming, in this context, will refer to scanning through every word, but not necessarily reading it in the head.
Skimming has clear benefits. You’re decreasing the amount of time it takes for you to read. But there are definitive downsides. Like, what if my comprehension decreases? Depending on the individual, you’ll find that your comprehension actually increases. Sometimes, your brain can keep up. Other times, your brain is just not trained to keep up. Either way, it depends on the pace at which you skim through the text. It increases because your brain is not bored with the pace you’ve decided to take. Also, in the case of just wanting the overall concepts given to you in a short amount of time, skimming is a winner.
Reading VS Skimming
So what should you do? There are clear benefits and downsides to both ways of reading. There’s really no way to know which is actually the ‘better’ method.
So this is what I’ll propose: a combination of both, used in set circumstances, is the best.
Read faster on topics you just want a vague idea of. Read slower on topics you want to devour. Read in between for topics you think you’ll enjoy, but don’t necessary want to go in depth.
Reflect on what you read. Make little notes and stick it onto the book.
Comprehension should not be compromised on things you wish to dive deeply into. After reading a paragraph, put it into words in which you understand.
Final Thoughts
Reading or skimming? Both have their own benefits and uses. It’s important to practice both. They should be used depending on the context of the text, and how much you want to enjoy it.
So the answer, always, is in between.
Discussion Question: What is the best book you’ve read that you’d recommend to anyone that you just met?
