Speed Reading vs Rapid for Normal Sight

[Bloodstone]

Ok, lets see what the community has to say about this one.

 

I just yesterday noticed that the Speed Reading tallent is built with both Rapid and Analyze for Normal Sight.

 

Obviously a character does not need Analyze to read normally, since Normal Sight only has limited Discriminatory properties. Why then is it necessary to add Analyze when trying to read quickly? Doesn't the Rapid adder already allow a character to percieve things they would normaly be able to at a greatly accelerated pace?

 

Steve assures me that Speed Reading is built correctly. I can accept that jsut fine, but now I need help figuring out the hows and the whys.

 

I ask because our resident speedster routinly reads whole books and listens whole music CD's in mere seconds with his Rapid x1000 Normal Vision and Hearing. I want to know if he should have to purchase full Discriminatory and Analyze for these sense to be able to do stuff like that.

 

As GM would you require Analyze for Hearing and Sight to do these sort of stunts? If so, why? If not, why not?

 

Personally, I'm of the opinion that Rapid should cover it, but then I may well be missing something important here.

[mikesama]

Re: Speed Reading vs Rapid for Normal Sight

 

The way i see it someone with a bunch of rapid reads(listens, whatever) really fast but has the same chance to glaze over something or miss subtle mistakes. (regular people do the same thing all the time) With Analyze you don't have this problem.

 

At least thats my closest guess as to why.

[prestidigitator]

Re: Speed Reading vs Rapid for Normal Sight

 

Ok, lets see what the community has to say about this one.

 

I just yesterday noticed that the Speed Reading tallent is built with both Rapid and Analyze for Normal Sight.

 

Obviously a character does not need Analyze to read normally, since Normal Sight only has limited Discriminatory properties. Why then is it necessary to add Analyze when trying to read quickly? Doesn't the Rapid adder already allow a character to percieve things they would normaly be able to at a greatly accelerated pace?

 

Steve assures me that Speed Reading is built correctly. I can accept that jsut fine, but now I need help figuring out the hows and the whys.

 

I ask because our resident speedster routinly reads whole books and listens whole music CD's in mere seconds with his Rapid x1000 Normal Vision and Hearing. I want to know if he should have to purchase full Discriminatory and Analyze for these sense to be able to do stuff like that.

 

As GM would you require Analyze for Hearing and Sight to do these sort of stunts? If so, why? If not, why not?

 

Personally, I'm of the opinion that Rapid should cover it, but then I may well be missing something important here.

Hmm. We had a similar topic to this one a while back. Or maybe it was an aside on some topic. I bet it had something to do with MegaMovement. Anyway, I'd have to think about it for a while again to be sure this is my take, but my immediate recollection was this:

 

Just because you can sense things at a very rapid pace does not mean you can take in all that informaion, process it, and form conclusions at such a rapid pace. For example, Rapid Sight might be sufficient to zoom through a phonebook and find the name associated with a particular number, but it doesn't mean you are really taking in all the information you read along the way. For that you are going to need some combination of Edetic Memory (to remember it all for later processing) and/or Analyze (to really take in the information and, rather than remembering every little thing, be able to discern the relavent details with enough accuracy to gain from the meterial the same kind of learning you would if you sat back, took your time, and went over the media at a, "normal," pace).

 

Here's an example that might help. Let's say we have an integrated circuit that we need to visually analyze in great detail. First we need to search for a broken connection. For that we will take our microscope and zoom in so that we can see in great detail each tiny section of the circuit. We'll scan over the whole circuit at incredible speed in an effort to find a little break in one of the painted wires. For this we need only Rapid Sight. Second, we need to determine how the basic design of the circuit works; for this we will use the same optical strategy, but instead of searching for one detail we need to put together an understanding of what each section does, how it relates to the rest of the circuit, etc. There are two choices: scan in all the data and use it to build a model (circuit diagram or detailed memory) that we can then take in at a normal rate, or use Analytical Sight to take a look at each small section and immediately discern the relavent issues, like what general purpose that small section fulfills, how it relates to the sections next to it (which we already understand or will soon study similarly), and how it could be operated.

 

Our normal conception of speed reading is that you really are reading the material like you normally would, which means you don't necessarily remember every single word, but you can extract all the relavent facts.

[Cancer]

Re: Speed Reading vs Rapid for Normal Sight

 

Obviously a character does not need Analyze to read normally' date=' since Normal Sight only has limited Discriminatory properties. Why then is it necessary to add Analyze when trying to read quickly? Doesn't the Rapid adder already allow a character to percieve things they would normaly be able to at a greatly accelerated pace?[/quote']

 

Cancer puts on his "Dr. Satan" persona:

 

All I can say is: take an exam in my class after just reading the text, without analyzing what's in it, and you won't do very well.

 

I can assure you of this by repeated experience.