An interesting "optical illusion" I saw today...
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Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.
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Now, I have to say that I got through almost two whole lines of that before I started realizing that something was amiss. I now understand why I see so many typos in books, news stories, even signs. It's just not that hard to miss them.
I've never thought about this before. I read quickly, devouring books in usually a quarter of the time it takes most people to get through them. An 800 page book is a day's read for me, yet my retention is quite good. I'm not skimming, or feeling like I'm rushing... I just read. As I read, the movie plays in my head, showing me each character, hearing their voices (accents and all)... and I feel like i'm going to miss something if I have to put the book down. LOL I have to remind myself that it won't go on without me if I have to go to the restroom. Why I never thought to just take the dang book with me is beyond me - I've never been a bathroom reader.
Anyway, after seeing that little optical illusion, I thought I'd see if it worked the same way on others. I think some of it has to do with why you're reading, as well. If I'm in "editor" mode, I catch every gross misspelling, each slaughtering of grammar... but I'm intently and purposefully focusing on every letter or punctuation mark. If I'm reading for pleasure, I'm in pure absorption mode. So, how does it work for you? What happened when YOU read that paragraph?
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