Is it possible to read without hearing the words in your hea

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NewTime
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24 Nov 2015, 9:31 pm

I heard it was possible. I don't see how it is. I've always thought that one has to hear the words in their head while they read. Apparantly there are some people that can read without hearing the words. How on Earth are you supposed to know what the words you're reading are if you can't hear them? The idea of reading without hearing the words just seems so weird and alien to me.



cathylynn
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24 Nov 2015, 9:33 pm

i read the way you do, but it is slow. some folks can interpret a whole sentence in one glance. i envy them.



Edenthiel
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01 Dec 2015, 2:47 am

NewTime wrote:
I heard it was possible. I don't see how it is. I've always thought that one has to hear the words in their head while they read. Apparantly there are some people that can read without hearing the words. How on Earth are you supposed to know what the words you're reading are if you can't hear them? The idea of reading without hearing the words just seems so weird and alien to me.

I read that way maybe half the time? Rarely with fiction, b/c then I usually want to hear the words in my head and feel them, too. I just run my eyes over the lines & the information is just there, in my head. I used to worry about it because it felt too much like driving on autopilot, but now i just accept it and have learned to trust it.


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nurseangela
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01 Dec 2015, 4:46 am

I'd say no, because you're not really hearing words in your head - its thoughts usually in your own voice because your brain knows what you sound like when you talk.


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Curious_NT
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01 Dec 2015, 10:51 pm

What an interesting question. I would say it is certainly possible. Perhaps a return question that might hold the answer would be: Do deaf people "hear" words when reading? If they don't, then you have a proof of concept, that it's possible to read without imagining any sound.

After searching the phrase "do deaf people hear words when reading?" This was one of the first replies I found.

"I don't vocalize when I read, and as a born-Deaf person, I don't ever hear a voice in my head anyway. So when I read, I just absorb the message, tone, images evoked by the printed words and all of that goes through my mind."

I know it's only anecdotal, but it's difficult to imagine a truly scientific way of testing this idea. So although we don't have the ability to physically experience what it's like for a deaf person to read. It does make intuitive sense, that a born deaf person wouldn't be able to "hear" a voice in their head. Therefore I'm reasonably convinced, that it must be possible to read without "hearing" the words in your head.



Skilpadde
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05 Dec 2015, 1:38 pm

Edenthiel wrote:
I just run my eyes over the lines & the information is just there, in my head.

This.
The only times I hear it is when I'm struggling with the text for some reason (like the text being difficult to understand or it's boring, or I just have a hard time getting into it, or there are distractions around me). The rest of the time it's like Edenthiel says.


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