Reading disability

[dalink]

Hi. 

Since reading is advocated in order to grow and learn I've been trying to build up my reading habit and so far I've obtained the more or less classical and recommended "self help" books. 

But how does one continue to learn if what is being read doesn't get comprehended nor remembered? Trying out audiobooks is by the way very similar to reading in my experience and thus no difference really. 

I've had this issue since I was a child. It's not unusual that i read a whole page and once I turn page I realize that I have no idea what I just read. This happens more or less every time. So reading 5 pages can sometimes take 30~ minutes and then it's not even sure that I comprehened what was just being read. 

So I suppose I'm looking for a diagnosis or someone who recognize what I'm trying to describe here and hopefully some tips how to get by this difficulty. I've been reading on and off for 7 years now. On and off because it takes up so much time and energy and I dont really recall anything anyways. But now I've just started it again. Just spent 40 minutes reading 10 pages in  "the mind illuminated" and if you asked me to summurize I wouldn't be able to give you a fair explanation. Any doctors here who can say what is wrong with my brain/mind? Lol

 

[Vibroverse]

Don't you sometimes find yourself enjoying a writing? I'm sure you do. 

[dalink]

I'm not sure what your pointing at now?

[ItsNick]

Can I ask you a question? Did you read much as a child or barely at all?

I barely read entire books as a child so I had a lot of problems with reading in my teenage years.

Only thing that worked for me is to keep reading for years and it got a lot better in time.

 

Oh and maybe reading more actively can help too. Try underlining passages that resonate with you or seem important. This helps.

Edited January 25, 2021 by ItsNick

[Preety_India]

I sense a disability or a mental disorder and I'm not sure if it would be easily diagnosed. 

Meanwhile I've a suggestion for the issue. You could use picture associations for whatever you are reading. 

The moment you are reading a passage, visualize the whole passage and the sequence of events described in the passage in your mind. 

Make strong associations in these visualizations. Add strong powerful colors. 

That way you'll be able to remember and recollect much better. 

 

[integral]

I had major reading disabilities, the same situation your in, its common for sleep dominant personality types. There is nothing wrong with you... 

The solution is right after reading a section to then ask a set of questions to explore the new ideas and create connections between the new things being learned and the things you already know.

The more connections being made the more likely it will stick.

It needs to be done deliberately until its automatic. Start by making a list of high quality questions that will promote connections, then ask your self these questions over and over again for every new idea read.  

Eventually this becomes automatic and the mind produces a endless flood of novel connections every time something is learned. 

 

 

Edited January 25, 2021 by integral

[Thought Art]

practice reading for 5 minutes, and then journaling about what you read for 5 minutes. Do this everyday and see your retention grow. Don't have any expectations at the beginning just do it and love that.

[Hello from Russia]

Most likely you don't remember because the information you read is useless to you. Try to find a practical use for it and why do you read anyways? What is the purpose of your reading? Just reading for the sake of reading is a very passive behaviour that won't really get you far. What books/knowledge do you actually need to achieve your goals/solve your problems? Focus your attention on those. I'd be willing to bet money if you read with a purpose in mind you'll remember what you need to remember with ease (and throw away everything that you don't)

[dalink]

Thanks for the replies. 

I never really read much when I was younger. I clearly remember studying before tests when I was around 10. I used to litteraly copy 20-30 pages by writing word by word on an empy A4 with a pencil. And I did this sometimes twice in order to just get the information to stick. But most of the time it didn't. I was wasted HOURS while forcefully studying with no really interest in the subjects whatsoever - I suppose that is an factor. Yet some of the information must stick. I knew people who just read a whole section just once and even if they had zero interest the information staying with them.

 
I suppose it partly has to do with lack of interest with reading generally, but more accurately my inability to stay focused. My mind drifts off after one sentence, so often I need to re-read the same page 5 times and so usually spend 15 minutes per page. Maybe I stress through books hoping something will stick. Maybe I should just continue and accept the fact that I need to spend 30 minutes reading one page? 

This issue keeps me from studying. Because I'm afraid I will fail. Back in my mind I'm thinking there is no point taking a degree, cause you won't make it. And I have the experience that this is the truth. Really annoying and desctructive. 

With that said. I have had moments where I'm reading and I'm soaking in every detail of the chapter. Usually when this is the case I'm flowing in some kind of state where every page is being  translated into pictures/videos inside my head or imagination. 


 

[Nahm]

@dalink

Focus is working perfectly. You’re focused on that you can’t comprehend, and that something is wrong with you, and experiencing it. You’re looking for others to diagnose, label & support this by joining you in your justification & rationalization, and you will find that too. That is easy, there are billions at the ready.  

You must understand that you were born into a world of emotional suppression, of war, of the violence of ignoring their own fraudulent focus diagnosis’s. A world of believers, ignoring their own nature, thus veiled to reality, sound asleep and dreaming the story of the “I” in their minds, and of rationalizations to support it.  But you are The One, and you are not in a world at all. 

You can not fall back, but you can believe your thoughts. You can not fail, but you can believe your thoughts. You can not know fear, but you can believe your thoughts. You can not cover up this flow of creation, and you can not be separate of it, but you can believe your thoughts. 

The sleeper sleeps because it is the lesser of two evils; staying in the story of “I”, vs, feeling. Wakefulness does not know evils. 

[Thought Art]

@dalink don't write word for word, write in your own words. Maybe its a limiting belief? You write well. 

What is your book selection process?

Edited January 26, 2021 by Thought Art