Photo reading and 7-Speed Reading use vastly different concepts, so it's a fascinating discussion to compare these systems and to try to assess which process works better, and which would be more suitable for most people.
Photo reading has always held people in fascination, not only because photo reading demonstrations are so impressive, but also because the whole concept of photo reading has an element almost of magic to it to the average person.
Just imagine picking up a work of fiction – a large volume, mind you, and simply turning the pages one by one, merely glancing once at each, and going through the book within minutes. And then standing up and fielding questions about the contents of what you have just read, answering them confidently and, more importantly, correctly.
Is there any downside to this rather rosy picture? And how does speed reading in general (and 7-Speed Reading in particular) compare with photo reading?
Well, you might be interested to know that speed reading actually compares very well – it gives far more reliable results in the vast majority of students.
The reason for this is that while speed reading uses known scientific principles as its basis, photo reading is based on vague theories of how the brain works, theories that have never really been proved.
This means that when a photo reading expert gives a stunning demonstrations, it could be much more due to an exceptional genetic gift, an individual talent, rather than through any learned principle.
And this is dangerous for the average student, because people don't join photo reading courses to watch some genius photo read, but to learn to do it themselves.
In contrast, speed reading uses tested principles that anyone can use.
In speed reading, the eyes are trained to move faster, the brain is trained to process the increased flow of information better, and the memory is trained to retain that information in long-term memory rather than in the extreme short-term memory. All of this gives clear and certifiable results, as students double and triple their reading speed within weeks.
Photo reading experts claim to read 25000 words a minute. While this may be true, it's also true that most people who sign-up for photo reading courses never come anywhere close to this figure.
In comparison, speed reading may double and triple your reading speed to between 1200 and 2000 words per minute (wpm). That may not sound so impressive, but that's because it's realistic. Most people who dedicatedly pursue speed reading can read normal text such as newspapers at this speed.
So in a comparison between photo reading and 7-Speed Reading, we'd say that 7-Speed Reading certainly is the winner.
Indeed, 7-Speed Reading is one of the best ways to learn speed reading, because it uses an interactive, easy-to-use software environment to strengthen your speed reading in more than a dozen ways – there are fifteen exercises for speed reading embedded in the software, to be exact.
You will see an improvement in your ability the same day that you see this software, and you will reach professional levels of speed reading (1000 to 2000 wpm) within a month. And you just can't match facts like that.