Re:Software Development at 800 Words per Minute
by Neurrone on Monday July 28, 2025 @08:40AM
(#44710261)
I was referring to how synthetic speech always talk in exactly the same way down to inflection and pauses whenever it encounters the same phrase, which isn't how people talk. So this helps a lot with comprehension. Structure of the content does help as well.
I've been using Optimal Recognition Point (ORP) style apps (I use Balto Speed Reader) to comfortably read at 800wpm or more - for fact books and materials I can keep this up for quite some time - though for fiction I find it too fast to parse all the characters and tones of voice (https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Spritz-display-The-Optim... )
Re:Software Development at 800 Words per Minute
by giantrobot on Monday July 28, 2025 @11:24AM
(#44711772)
Holy shit getting to that paper was such a hassle. I had to jump through so many hoops to just download a PDF. Not your fault at all but anti-bot stuff and general enshittification has is ruining the web for actual people.
If you compare different languages, the speed people tend to speak (measured in syllables per second) varies significantly. However, the number of possible syllables also varies significantly. Once you account for that, the speed of speaking in terms of information is fairly consistent across languages.
I'm not aware of any specific research directly on point to what the author of the posted blog describes. But his hypothesis that having a consistent speaker reduces the cognitive overhead of decoding seems to be part of the story.
However, we would expect a similar effect in people who read, as the writing is also highly standardized. However, I've generally seen silent reading speads for English estimated at around 250. Getting up to 800 WPM puts you well within the realm of speed reading territory.
The relatively high structure of code and rote emails probably helps too.