Human speech may have a universal transmission rate: 39 bits per second

Re:Human speech may have a universal transmission rate: 39 b... by dredmorbius on Wednesday September 04, 2019 @06:40PM (#20882092)

Exceedingly slow narration, particularly what's normal for audiobooks, is annoying to me because it's slower than I process words. It's like walking with someone whose pace is far slower than your natural gait -- it takes more energy and concentration to slow down. It's why slow-talkers are so annoying.

This isn't "how fast can I go through this" but "what is a comfortable pace"?

So I bump the speed up, though usually fairly modestly: 1.25x - 1.5x is generally enough.

I've noticed that preferred speeds vary tremendously with the quality of the work and speaker -- high-density information and an exceedingly good speaker, and I'll slow down. Slapdash redundant content and poor speaker, I'll speed up.

The degree of polish in the production matters tremendously. I've listened to CPG Grey's YouTube videos (highly polished) and podcasts (a lot of chit-chat with his co-host). The videos work well at normal speed, or perhaps slighly sped up. The podcasts I find nearly unlistenable, though they improve at much higher speeds (1.75x - 2x).

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Re:Human speech may have a universal transmission rate: 39 b... by SilasX on Wednesday September 04, 2019 @07:22PM (#20882361)

Yes, and the painful slowness becomes even more evident if you speed it up to the 1.25/1.5x range, get comfortable with it, and then go back to 1x. IME, it sounds like the speaker is going over-the-top to enunciate, like you're a small child or have learning disabilities or something.

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Re:Human speech may have a universal transmission rate: 39 b... by dredmorbius on Wednesday September 04, 2019 @08:57PM (#20882915)

Audiences vary, and many listeners of audiobooks are visually disabled who may also have hearing problems. Pitching the default to these seems a fair deal, particularly as speeding up is so straightforward.

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Re:Human speech may have a universal transmission rate: 39 b... by godelski on Wednesday September 04, 2019 @07:14PM (#20882318)

I watch lectures online at 1.5-2x for a similar reason. At that speed I have to concentrate. Slower and it is easy for my mind to wander.

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Re:Human speech may have a universal transmission rate: 39 b... by sweetbacon on Wednesday September 04, 2019 @09:02PM (#20882952)

As a slow walker I respectfully disagree on the energy to slow down vs speed up! Concentration may be equal however. I get absolutely exhausted keeping up with you fast walkers. :)

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Re:Human speech may have a universal transmission rate: 39 b... by shorts_theory on Wednesday September 04, 2019 @08:22PM (#20882748)

That's interesting. If you're talking about Hello Internet, I enjoy listening to them at 1x. I find it quite relaxing to listen to passively.

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Re:Human speech may have a universal transmission rate: 39 b... by Normal_gaussian on Wednesday September 04, 2019 @10:15PM (#20883299)

To date, this is the only podcast I can actually enjoy. I generally do other things while listening, and feel like I'm in the company of friends.

It undoubtedly has a relatively low density of information however I wouldn't speed it up, I would slow it down!

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Re:Human speech may have a universal transmission rate: 39 b... by Mikemo05 on Thursday September 05, 2019 @06:54AM (#20885479)

I tend to listen to audio books at 2.5-2.8 times speed and all media I consum is at 2x speed.

Tip there are 10s of chrome extentios that allow you to change all html videos to 2x speed or even higher (including most ads on sites like YouTube and Hulu)

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Re:Human speech may have a universal transmission rate: 39 b... by knzhou on Wednesday September 04, 2019 @06:52PM (#20882172)

I'm totally with you, I speak at effectively 1.5x in real life, so that's what feels natural to me listening. But I get turned off if something needs to be sped up _beyond_ reasonable human speaking speed to be palatable, like 2.5x or 3x. It's like putting a pile of salt on really bland food. I get the feeling that I'm panning for gold.

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Re:Human speech may have a universal transmission rate: 39 b... by optimuspaul on Wednesday September 04, 2019 @10:04PM (#20883251)

I can't keep up with fast talkers and I like my books and movies at nominal speeds. When things are fast I can't pay attention. My brain needs to extra cycles to wander and consume and let my focus be split.

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Re:Human speech may have a universal transmission rate: 39 b... by Rattled on Thursday September 05, 2019 @04:48AM (#20884989)

I think some audio books are slightly slowed down by default, many I've listened to sound more natural at about 1.2x

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Re:Human speech may have a universal transmission rate: 39 b... by afarrell on Thursday September 05, 2019 @05:01AM (#20885051)

Part of the reason for this is that its rare for audiobook software to have a 0.9x playback option, but common to have a 1.25x option.

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Re:Human speech may have a universal transmission rate: 39 b... by samstave on Wednesday September 04, 2019 @09:32PM (#20883098)

Yup! _+1

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