Speed Running Entertainment

[Morrus]

Others, simply avoid the internet somehow entirely until they can finish at their own pace.

How does that not involve never using the internet? There's always something out.

 

[payn]

How does that not involve never using the internet? There's always something out.

I meant about that one thing. Just not click anything about x, close anything about x, etc..

 

[Dausuul]

There is an ever-growing amount of content competing for our attention, and late-stage capitalism is ensuring we have increasingly less time for leisure. Less time, more content, all we can do is zoom through it.

There is also the fact that a lot of us have ADHD and modern life is more or less designed to aggravate it. If I'm going to get through a book at all on the first read, it will be by triggering hyperfocus, which means I'm going to plow through it at maximum intensity.

The way I appreciate the details is on re-reads. When I've read a book once, I don't need to devote as much attention to understanding the plot and I can pay attention to language and nuance.

Of course, this assumes the book was good enough to re-read in the first place. But if it wasn't, then it's just as well I didn't spend a lot of time on it.

 

[Morrus]

I meant about that one thing. Just not click anything about x, close anything about x, etc..

The problem is the spoilers appear in headlines, social media posts, etc. Unless I'm just not going to use the internet (which is basically like not using electricity these days) I'm going to see them. Probably less of an issue for those in the US, who generally get things first, but it is a pretty constant thing.

 

[Umbran]

A long awaited Big fat fantasy novel came out a few days ago, and all over my feeds I see people tearing through its ridiculous page count in mere days. How can you appreciate it if you read as fast as humanly possible just to be the first to finish it?

On top of what others have noted, speed reading is also a sort of geek muscle-flexing. You are MOAR GEEK if you read it faster than anyone else.

...Just don't mention that studies indicate that speed reading reduces retention. And whatever you do, don't try to quiz them to prove that they didn't retain much. That ends badly.

 

[TiQuinn]

I legitimately don't understand how some folks speed run their way through a thing they have been really waiting for, especially books but also things like television shows or video games. Don't folks like to savor things?

A long awaited Big fat fantasy novel came out a few days ago, and all over my feeds I see people tearing through its ridiculous page count in mere days. How can you appreciate it if you read as fast as humanly possible just to be the first to finish it?

Some people are just voracious readers.

Some want to be able to discuss the books on other forums.

The other thing is sometimes books (as well as shows) are just that good that they are literally page-turners. Every chapter ending on a cliffhanger, getting you absolutely hooked. Also sometimes, the books just aren’t that…deep. I can churn through a Lee Child book in a day, easily. It’s not necessarily bad, but it follows a familiar formula, and really doesn’t demand a whole lot from the reader.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

I do that with videos of people talking, mainly because I can read faster than people can talk, so I get impatient. But I can't imagine watching an actual TV show sped up. That would be weird.

I'll be honest, I do that as well. Training and educational videos do tend to move at a slower pace than I would like.

The problem is the spoilers appear in headlines, social media posts, etc. Unless I'm just not going to use the internet (which is basically like not using electricity these days) I'm going to see them. Probably less of an issue for those in the US, who generally get things first, but it is a pretty constant thing.

For shows that come out once a week, there is frequently a window of just a few days before spoilers start leaking out. I hate that, and the pressure to watch before something gets spoiled.

 

[R_J_K75]

I was listening to them on my drives

I'm surprised that WotC hasn't put out the 3 core books as Audio versions, such as audible. Obviously, it wouldn't/couldn't be a 1:1 adaptation, regarding tables and such, but they could parse out those and some of the fluff text, but for someone like me who has trouble concentrating on reading these days, I think I would retain more as I can listen for a period of time until I finish it and then just put it on as background noise periodically to reinforce my understanding and retention of the rules. Not sure what the market for this would be like or if its economically feasible, but I'd appreciate it.

What I don't understand is people watching shows at faster playback speed to get through them more quickly.

This is baffling to me that people actually do this and shows how out of touch I am with younger generations.

On top of what others have noted, speed reading is also a sort of geek muscle-flexing.

When I was in college and had a lot of reading to do, I bought a book by Peter Kump called "Break-Through Rapid Reading". At the time I ran into my supervisor while we were getting coffee and mentioned the book to him. He had read it and remembered a lot of the technique and said it worked but it takes practice. I gave it a shot but could never get the hang of it. I didn't have the patience or the commitment to stick with it. The basic premise is that you train your brain to eliminate the unimportant words in a sentence like, a, the, is, etc, and pick out key words which allows you to get the gist of the paragraph or identify what you need to fully read to completely comprehend what you're reading.

 

[sevenbastard]

Unless I'm just not going to use the internet (which is basically like not using electricity these days)

In the mid 2000s in the hotel world the philosophy was having wifi was more important than having hot water. Now that folks can connect with there phone it's less important, but back then if buisness folk showed up and couldn't connect there lap tops it was devastating.

Sad really, as buisness travel before the internet was a chance to disconnect and explore, versus work long hours in your hotel room.

 

[Umbran]

For shows that come out once a week, there is frequently a window of just a few days before spoilers start leaking out. I hate that, and the pressure to watch before something gets spoiled.

Recent example: for Agatha All Along, I saw spoilers in headlines within 24 hours of the episode dropping.