See, this is the first realistic comment I've seen that matches my idea of "speed reading".
The OP, other articles in the last few days, and several comments seem to rest on a misunderstanding of the term "speed reading". It is not the same as "reading faster", nor is it a method of inhaling the same amount of content in a shorter time. It is, instead, a means of grabbing the key points of a large document in a short space of time, either before studying it properly (so you know its structure and end result), or after studying it properly (so you can quickly remind yourself of the main points).
Exactly! Phillip Lopate has a short chapter on "research" in "To Show and to Tell," and describes his way of researching like this:
"Here the creative nonfiction writer can follow the journalists' lead. Being trained generalists—that is to say, quick studies who can leap opportunistically on intriguing vignettes and facts, give them a vivid twist, and forget the rest—veteran journalists know that they don't have to become specialists, they just have to absorb enough of the material under scrutiny this week or month to file an interesting story. When you are researching, what you are looking for, subconsciously or not, is the oddity that will spark your imagination—not necessarily the most important detail, but the one that will excite your love of paradox or sense of humor."
This kind of "opportunistic" reading is discredited throughout this HN thread as "not real reading." I get the point—it's not the same as reading carefully, reverently, leisurely. It's a workaday tactic, it's somewhat impious. But for me it's a wonderful and even liberating way to work with texts.
The OP, other articles in the last few days, and several comments seem to rest on a misunderstanding of the term "speed reading". It is not the same as "reading faster", nor is it a method of inhaling the same amount of content in a shorter time. It is, instead, a means of grabbing the key points of a large document in a short space of time, either before studying it properly (so you know its structure and end result), or after studying it properly (so you can quickly remind yourself of the main points).
Semantic arguments are the boringest arguments.