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speed reading in ancient times?
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    Posted: 17-Sep-2006 at 16:41
I looked everywhere online, Google search... Yahoo search.
 
I had no luck, and couldn't find any information about the Ancient Greeks, Dacians, or Romans that use speed reading techniques... maybe they did, and it probably existed back in Ancient times, but I'm really not 100% sure.
 
 
 
So this is why I joined this forum, maybe I can have my question answered by some intelligent History buffs. Smile    A big Thank you in return if you guys have any info.
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Posts: 1792 		  Quote Decebal Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18-Sep-2006 at 10:32
To my knowledge, such a thing did not exist. Papyrus scrolls were very unwieldy and ill-suited for speed-reading. I also remember an anecdote about St.Anselm (12th century), where it was said that he was one of the first people that could read without speaking aloud. Needless to say, if that is true and everybody read aloud, that significantly slowed down reading. By the way, we know very little about literacy in Dacia, but it is not thought that it was widespread at all.
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Posts: 1934 		  Quote Aster Thrax Eupator Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18-Sep-2006 at 11:21

This Notion is ridiculous! Just how many people do you think in ancient times knew how to compose and write letters! Generally, only scribes! An scribes would have taken their reading and writing very slowly and carefully.
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Posts: 3392 		  Quote Aelfgifu Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19-Sep-2006 at 07:30
Originally posted by Earl Aster

This Notion is ridiculous! Just how many people do you think in ancient times knew how to compose and write letters! Generally, only scribes! An scribes would have taken their reading and writing very slowly and carefully.

 
Why is it hilarious? It is a viable question as far as I'm concerned...
 
In antiquity, writing was far more common than in the Middle Ages, and many Romans, of the middle classes as well as the upper ones, could read and write. Even more: whereas the upper classes could hire proffessionals to do it for them, the lower ranks had to do it themselves. It is also know that reading as a hobby or pastime was normal in Antiquity, unlike the Middle Ages, where study was, for most of the period, the only reason to do so.
 
As speed reading is concerned... I really do not know, but my bet would be no. As said above: scrolls were not handy for it. Also, the Romans and early middle agers did not use spaces between words, which would make speed reading very difficult. And if you are familiar with classical Latin prose, you might have noticed that it is generally something of a grammatial puzzle, which would have been a deterrent for all but the most learned persons.
 
I do know for sure, as also abvementioned, that in the Middle Ages, reading was only ever done aloud until well into the thirteenth century. There is even a text in which it is commented that a certain patriarch could read silent, apparently this was an amazing talent...Wink

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