Thread by @Aella_Girl

As a kid/teen, I read a lot - and I mean a *lot*; for example I got through nearly 1 book from the Sword of Truth series *per day*. I built a contraption to let me read while showering; I read in the car, by the moonlight, I snuck books under the glass dining table at dinner. 1/

I had at least 2 books on my person at all times just in case I finished one and needed another. I lined my bed with books and slept on top of them.
At this level of excessive, near-constant reading I remember having a different experience of reading than I can achieve now. 2/

I wouldn't read words, I'd read phrases as solid chunks, and often treat full paragraphs similarly to the way I read sentences now; some part of my brain skimmed *in addition* to reading; it sort of told my eyes where to jump to catch the important words so I could come out 3/

of the paragraph with good comprehension. And my comprehension was good - reading tests clocked me at around 800 wpm with decent retention.
What interests me about this is that I think I was doing some sort of data compression? Like, I read fewer total words than were there. 4/

I don't know how my brain managed to figure out which words to read and which ones not to at that significant a scale.
I can't do this anymore; my reading speed has dropped a few hundred wpm. There's still some chunking, but it doesn't feel the same.