# Should I buy Jim Kwik's $247 Speed Reading Masterclass?

**URL:** <https://forum.artofmemory.com/t/should-i-buy-jim-kwiks-247-speed-reading-masterclass/38302>\
**Category:** Productivity\
**Tags:** speed-reading\
**Created:** [May 11, 2019, 4:17pm UTC](https://forum.artofmemory.com/t/should-i-buy-jim-kwiks-247-speed-reading-masterclass/38302 "2019-05-11T16:17:44Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 29

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**Author:** ![Josh](https://forum.artofmemory.com/user_avatar/forum.artofmemory.com/josh/32/21_2.png) [@Josh](https://forum.artofmemory.com/u/Josh)\
**Post date:** [April 11, 2020, 5:59am UTC](https://forum.artofmemory.com/t/should-i-buy-jim-kwiks-247-speed-reading-masterclass/38302/29 "2020-04-11T05:59:30Z")

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> [@adrianhanz](#):
>
> Howard Berg has been documented by Guinness Book of Record in the year 1990 as the world’s fastest reader. Just for your info. Which means, they checked on his comprehension too.

Wikipedia [points out](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_reading) that, “The Guinness Speed Reading World Record Standards are not known and they have terminated”. Without knowing the standards of the testing, I don’t think it’s possible to use the measurement from 1990 as a fact. I haven’t been able to find any evidence of testing under strict conditions in the 30 years since that one unknown test.

I’m pretty sure that I could read 25,000 words per minute if I printed a single word (like “a”) 25,000 times on some paper, and then flipped through all the pages in one minute. I think more information about the test is needed before coming to any conclusions about it.

Magic tricks are easier than impossible-seeming abilities. Here’s an example: [Derren Brown - Library; possible?](https://forum.artofmemory.com/t/derren-brown-library-possible/27656)

There are known cases of people fooling experts with memory techniques, mentalism, or magic tricks, so I think it’s more likely that some kind of trick or technicality was used. 🙂

Photoreading also makes similar claims, but there was a [NASA study on Photoreading](https://forum.artofmemory.com/t/photoreading-paul-shelle/30098/2) that concluded that it didn’t work.

Here are some related discussions to check out:

- [photoreading mental photography](https://forum.artofmemory.com/t/photoreading-mental-photography/29270)
- [photoreading](https://forum.artofmemory.com/t/photoreading-paul-shelle/30098)
- [mental photography video](https://blog.artofmemory.com/richard-welch-mental-photography-1423.html)
- [zox pro](https://forum.artofmemory.com/t/zox-pro/29032)
- [Speed reading](https://artofmemory.com/blog/speed-reading/)

> [@adrianhanz](#):
>
> Then he was beaten by another person.
> 
> Dr. Maria Teresa Calderon works as Dean of Graduate School of Education, Arellano University. Calderon reset the record books with her reading speed of 80,000 words per minute with 100 percent comprehension.\*\* Her world record still stands today.

80,000 words per minute is 1,333.34 words per second. I don’t think that it’s possible. Even if someone’s eyes could pick up the words that quickly, I doubt that a brain could process the information.

Does “100% comprehension” mean that all 80,000 words could be repeated back perfectly without errors, or that five basic questions were asked about the content and all five (100%) were answered correctly? More details are needed.

I’m ready to believe it, but I’d have to see very solid evidence. It’s too easy for clever mentalists to manipulate people. 🙂

I highly recommend [this video](https://forum.artofmemory.com/t/amazing-ability/29081/2), because it goes into some of the ways that people can trick other people into believing extraordinary claims.

**Edit:** I’m not saying that speedreading doesn’t work. I do think that it’s possible to improve reading speed — but I don’t think it’s possible to read 25,000+ words per minute.

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