Howard Stephen Berg: A Speed Reading Tip: The Power Of Your Unconscious Brain

How is it possible for some people to read as fast as they turn the page? One of the biggest secrets for accomplishing this is locked inside the way your brain processes information. To understand this you need to first learn about the two computers locked inside your brain.

Your conscious brain is like a cheap calculator. It can only process about seven chunks of information at a time. This was discovered early in the last century, and is linked to the discovery of the telephone. Let me explain.

When the telephone was first introduced commercially, one of the biggest questions needing to be answered was what was the maximum size phone number that an average person could easily remember? Many tests were done, and the answer turns out to be seven digits. Unknowingly, these researchers have discovered more than they were searching for originally. They had not only discovered the maximum number of numbers that an average brain can easily remember, they also discovered that the conscious brain can only retain about seven chunks of data at a time. This seven chunk limitation has profound significance while speed reading.

Speed readers can easily process a huge amount of information in a a very short amount of time. For example, recently one speed reader was seen on television completing the entire 1,500 page health care bill in only 50 minutes. That is a lot of information to input at a very high rate of speed. If the conscious brain can only process seven chunks of data at a time, then how can such high speed reading be possible? The answer lies in the second computer hidden deep within your brain.

Your unconscious brain is your second computer. This region has no limitations on how much information it can handle in an instant. In fact, it is constantly monitoring millions of bits of data at a time without any effort. This is the portion of the brain that is used while speed reading at very high rates.