Economics of Learning
I'm going to breakdown a few popular methods of learning and determine, by invoking economic principals, which is the fastest and most effective.
Throughout this post I will address two major components of learning which is the speed at which we can learn them and how well we can comprehend them. First we will address speed, then comprehension.
First, let's quickly look at the most popular methods of learning. Reading, Listening, and Showing. First, which is the fastest?
The average reader reads at a pace of 200 wpm, but this can reasonable increased to 400-600 wpm without sacrificing comprehension according to the limited modern science on the subject. If willing to sacrifice comprehension then wpm can hit upwards of 1000 wpm by utilizing intelligent skimming and picking out the important bits of information.
The average speaker speaks at a pace of 130 wpm, but a professional voice actor speaks at a rate of 160 wpm. On the extreme end, an auctioneer can spit out words as fast as 250 or even 400 wpm. Now, when listening, often times the material is never spoken faster than 160 wpm, but the listener has the added benefit of speeding up the pace of speech with a button press. Using this method we can boost the wpm of oratory material to 240 wpm or even 320 wpm. The faster we speed up oration the more comprehension we are likely to be missing out on.
A video or a method of showing still requires a way of giving information to the viewer. This can be done with words or oration in which case the above would still apply, but some parts can be shown in a few seconds what may be a paragraph of text or a mini speech. Thus, video will usually be a bit faster than either reading or oration respectively whereas reading is likely faster than listening.
Second, let's examine what will be retained more effectively. Let's begin with reading versus listening. Reading requires the decoding of words into images or sounds while listening doesn't require any decoding because we already have an established infrastructure for immediately translating words that we have heard into meaning. Evidence comes to support this in the form of you! When you read odds are you catch yourself saying the words in your head, recent scientific studies show that all people do this even if they think they do not. You don't do the same thing when you listen. While this makes listening easier to understand, it also means that you are making less connections while listening. Memory has been proven to be a direct result of the more correlations and connection you can make regarding one idea. This would mean connecting it to visuals, scent, hearing, etc and focus. While reading you are listening (in your head) and using visuals which will arguably increase your comprehension relative to only listening. Combine this with the fact that reading is faster and that it requires more focus means that reading is slightly more efficient and will produce slightly higher comprehension. However, what if you combine reading/oration with visual stimulus such as a video? This means that you combine the previous connections with a visual one and will definitely increase comprehension. Depending on the video it has the potential to be faster since large portions of world-building can be expressed quickly in a matter of seconds. Furthermore, it is more enjoyable to watch a video for many people and this means that you will have an easier time focusing. Some would argue, however, that listening or reading means you get to form your own images in your head which will be easier to retain since you create them yourselves.
All methods are effective as long as you focus, but reading or video combined with reading are likely the most effective formats for learning material quickly and comprehensively. This is about economics though so we have to consider opportunity cost! As a result of this we have to consider that you can listen while you do something else while reading and watching do not as accessibly have this luxury. This means that while listening you can drive, draw, or exercise without being too inhibited. Reading and watching while driving is inadvisable...
In conclusion, all methods are good, but it is up to you which way you use depending on you specific situation and immediate needs. I would recommend reading for its access to prime information and listening for when you are multi-tasking. Watching should be the best for reviewing topics or if you have trouble focusing.
https://wordcounter.net/blog/2016/06/02/101702_how-fast-average-person-speaks.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2016/07/31/is-listening-to-a-book-a-cheating/?utm_term=.3a1035e96ea1
Throughout this post I will address two major components of learning which is the speed at which we can learn them and how well we can comprehend them. First we will address speed, then comprehension.
First, let's quickly look at the most popular methods of learning. Reading, Listening, and Showing. First, which is the fastest?
The average reader reads at a pace of 200 wpm, but this can reasonable increased to 400-600 wpm without sacrificing comprehension according to the limited modern science on the subject. If willing to sacrifice comprehension then wpm can hit upwards of 1000 wpm by utilizing intelligent skimming and picking out the important bits of information.
The average speaker speaks at a pace of 130 wpm, but a professional voice actor speaks at a rate of 160 wpm. On the extreme end, an auctioneer can spit out words as fast as 250 or even 400 wpm. Now, when listening, often times the material is never spoken faster than 160 wpm, but the listener has the added benefit of speeding up the pace of speech with a button press. Using this method we can boost the wpm of oratory material to 240 wpm or even 320 wpm. The faster we speed up oration the more comprehension we are likely to be missing out on.
A video or a method of showing still requires a way of giving information to the viewer. This can be done with words or oration in which case the above would still apply, but some parts can be shown in a few seconds what may be a paragraph of text or a mini speech. Thus, video will usually be a bit faster than either reading or oration respectively whereas reading is likely faster than listening.
Second, let's examine what will be retained more effectively. Let's begin with reading versus listening. Reading requires the decoding of words into images or sounds while listening doesn't require any decoding because we already have an established infrastructure for immediately translating words that we have heard into meaning. Evidence comes to support this in the form of you! When you read odds are you catch yourself saying the words in your head, recent scientific studies show that all people do this even if they think they do not. You don't do the same thing when you listen. While this makes listening easier to understand, it also means that you are making less connections while listening. Memory has been proven to be a direct result of the more correlations and connection you can make regarding one idea. This would mean connecting it to visuals, scent, hearing, etc and focus. While reading you are listening (in your head) and using visuals which will arguably increase your comprehension relative to only listening. Combine this with the fact that reading is faster and that it requires more focus means that reading is slightly more efficient and will produce slightly higher comprehension. However, what if you combine reading/oration with visual stimulus such as a video? This means that you combine the previous connections with a visual one and will definitely increase comprehension. Depending on the video it has the potential to be faster since large portions of world-building can be expressed quickly in a matter of seconds. Furthermore, it is more enjoyable to watch a video for many people and this means that you will have an easier time focusing. Some would argue, however, that listening or reading means you get to form your own images in your head which will be easier to retain since you create them yourselves.
All methods are effective as long as you focus, but reading or video combined with reading are likely the most effective formats for learning material quickly and comprehensively. This is about economics though so we have to consider opportunity cost! As a result of this we have to consider that you can listen while you do something else while reading and watching do not as accessibly have this luxury. This means that while listening you can drive, draw, or exercise without being too inhibited. Reading and watching while driving is inadvisable...
In conclusion, all methods are good, but it is up to you which way you use depending on you specific situation and immediate needs. I would recommend reading for its access to prime information and listening for when you are multi-tasking. Watching should be the best for reviewing topics or if you have trouble focusing.
https://wordcounter.net/blog/2016/06/02/101702_how-fast-average-person-speaks.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2016/07/31/is-listening-to-a-book-a-cheating/?utm_term=.3a1035e96ea1
COOL BLOG! I grew up learning that reading it extremely crucial to not only help your comprehension of material but also help you writing and knowledge. It's interesting to think how schools are starting to consider what learning might be best for people especially with the spike in technology and the amount that we are using it! For example, hand-writing your notes is something that has been proven to help you significantly with memorizing and processing information but the majority of students choose to use their computers simply because of convenience.
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