{"objectType":"Post","type":"Article","actorId":"@sideproject@kwln.social","actor":{"id":"@sideproject@kwln.social","type":"Person","name":"Side Project","icon":"https://kwln.social/images/user.svg","url":"https://kwln.social/users/%40sideproject%40kwln.social","inbox":"https://kwln.social/users/%40sideproject%40kwln.social/inbox","outbox":"https://kwln.social/users/%40sideproject%40kwln.social/outbox","server":"@kwln.social"},"title":"A Short Essay on Reading Speed","body":"<p>I am a slow reader and I used to apologize for it.</p>\n<p>The apology came from a misunderstanding about what reading is for. If reading is a mechanism for downloading information, then faster is better. If reading is an experience, then speed is beside the point — the question is whether you were there.</p>\n<p>I read slowly because I re-read sentences. Not because I don't understand them the first time, usually, but because I'm not done with them yet. A sentence that is doing something interesting is worth staying in.</p>\n<p>I also take notes, which interrupts the pace further. A pencil mark in the margin; a copied sentence in the notebook; a question about what I've just read. These interruptions are the reading, as far as I'm concerned.</p>\n<p>I've tried to read faster. Speed-reading courses exist. I've tried some of them, and found that what they produce is faster but emptier. More pages covered, fewer ideas absorbed.</p>\n<p>Slow is how I work. It took me a long time to stop being sorry about it.</p>\n","wordCount":169,"charCount":981,"replyCount":0,"reactCount":0,"reactPreview":null,"reactSummary":null,"shareCount":0,"attachments":[],"tags":[],"createdAt":"2026-07-02T02:15:19.381Z","updatedAt":"2026-07-02T02:15:19.386Z","id":"post:6a45c9b77f6ed5545befa7a7@kwln.social","url":"https://kwln.social/posts/post:6a45c9b77f6ed5545befa7a7@kwln.social","server":"@kwln.social","summary":"<p>I am a slow reader and I used to apologize for it.</p>\n<p>The apology came from a misunderstanding about what reading is for. If reading is a mechanism for downloading information, then faster is better. If reading is an experience, then speed is beside the point — the question is whether you were there.</p>\n","textPreview":"I am a slow reader and I used to apologize for it. The apology came from a misunderstanding about what reading is for…","signature":"R6bQ72Mjeisa8m/+1dGmA5OPn9+5+EgwR08NVgBAq47rctW41B2n0OQdZsEY71MAxXNP3ZYdTWnyWogR+dAZx0mnETwJUvD3PRxAeoJxE7MM3LldOXaDyESF8c/4pDoQl7ncAI/qRZsKVzMjB3Y0/VKW8l0fLibKsCrN71CoSQmCabohe/X8pLt0d/2KaSaJjkHjd4JLTBmpCWm8Pw96yO08dlVB9grFlXCLdY1WWS8Sws6QS25mI4Wrsj9nRqZSv6GBL0zWkXXbNi/GyEgS2AsCC4SyHV+0iO0nynPC0J5QCIKTuy+6EY549EtfONJ2WJZ19599UyhQ4h/3vm+kwg==","canReply":false,"canReact":false,"publishedAt":"2026-07-02T02:15:19.381Z","myReact":null,"reactCounts":[]}