Podfasting? It sounds like abstaining from listening
Hi. My name is Eran and I like podcasts and audiobooks.
Recently, I found out about the term Podfasting. No, it’s not about abstaining from listening to Podcasts. The average person types at 40 words a minute, speaks at 150 words a minute but thinks at about 400 words a minute. I know I type at 70 words a minute, I probably speak at closer to 200 words a minute, and I think my thinking speed is also higher by a similar percentage (Probably around 450-500). So, I think it makes sense that I like watching TV and listening to podcasts at very high speeds (My current rate is 1.8-2.1x). I even like to speed read, which is how I calculate my thinking speed.
Roughly 30,000 hours of content are uploaded to YouTube every hour. More and better content creators are currently creating more and better content. I want to have as much of it as I can. And, as your brain processes information about twice as fast as a person speaks, this problem is a solvable one. Creators can record their content at their own speed and today’s tools can speed it up without losing the pitch so it still sounds human. It’s only logical for someone with a huge backlog.
Another thing they say in the article above is that understanding drops as you go up in speed but I think that’s entirely variable and dependent on the individual. I only aim for the speed in which I can still follow what’s going on. Right now, I’m at 2x and feeling good about it. Sometimes I’m tired or sick or have a headache so I drop it to 1.6x or even lower. And when it’s a TV show or movie with lots of intense action I want to follow I drop it even lower. Though I do find that even stuff like Warrior I watch at least at 1.2x.
The only question you should be really asking yourself is whether this is something you want. I see it the same as speed reading, blind typing, or juggling. You don’t have to. You can live without it. But is it a skill that would be useful to you, a skill you think you should have? If so, you can train yourself up for it and you can get used to it.
And to anyone who wants to side with the “Speed listening devoids the content of emotional content”, I listen to the Moth and it has made me cry before.
Posted in Me, No Category, Practice, Thinking Out Loud by Eran with comments disabled.