Reading Correctly

Don't ask me where this thought even came from, but I was just thinking about how easy school has always been for me and how everything seemed to come naturally from the start (arguably, this could be re-written as "never really challenged in my primary education" ha). I think I stumbled on this because I was thinking of how ready I am to get back into the classroom and start learning more, and how much I cannot wait to be a doctor. Then my mind drifted onto an theory I firmly believe: irrespective of the field, reading is essential to success. I firmly believe that most successful people in most areas like to read. Now, they might not like to read any- and everything, but at least in regards to their areas of expertise, they read in their spare time, and they don't mind doing the hours of research (read: reading) necessary to take lead in their fields, to discover new things, or to simply learn from those who came before them.

But then it hit me - back in 2nd grade I had a terrible battle with one subject in particular: reading! You see, I had attended a very small private school (I mean, there were 7 kids in my first grade class...shout out to Lane Robbins!!!) and they had their own little philosophy on learning. One area they really emphasized was getting students interested in reading very early on (apparently, they too thought reading was key to success). So, in essence, they focused on getting us to read and to like participating in the activity, and didn't want to deter us from it, so they opted not to correct us when we messed up. They emphasized encouragement of actively trying to get ourselves through books, rather than getting through correctly. While I do think this helped us enjoy activity, you can imagine what types of bad habits were picked up, never broken, and possibly positively reinforced... So yes, as a little tyke, I loved reading, but Lord only knows what illogical phrases were coming out of my mouth during those early years.

As I said, the school was tiny, and as such, only went up to 1st grade. Therefore, I transferred to a local Christian school (clearly, mom was not a fan of the local public school system...it did have a bad rep). When I got there, I was on-pace or ahead of my classmates in all areas except for reading/reading comprehension. I had to spend extra time unlearning the false things instilled in me at my former school and learning how to do the basics correctly. Now, clearly I don't remember any of this, but my mom has told me about it on more than one occasion. I spent a lot of time and energy that year getting caught up with my peers and learning how to read correctly. Funny thing is I arguably became the best reader in my class, always volunteering to read aloud and focusing extra hard on my spelling and vocabulary words (even placed in the division spelling bee a few times). I'm all about the "that which does not kill us only makes us stronger."

This reminds me of something my friend wrote the other day as a fb status: everyone is weak and everyone is strong. we're strong because we're weak.At first look, I immediately dismissed it. I said, "Pssh. That makes no sense. I hate weakness," and I preceded to close my mind. Then, feeling slightly guilty, I decided to think it through a bit and thought, "I hate weakness, but I guess that hate for my own weakness pushes me to be better...making weakness a strength." My friend swiftly kicked me in the rear with reality and stated, "You probably didnt see what I meant BECAUSE you hate weakness and maybe you didnt want to see it that way...that's just a human thing." Ouch! Isn't that the truth though? We see what we want to see and turn aside contradictory interpretations or information that would cause us to rethink our position. In psychology, it's called the confirmation bias, and is one of the most basic heuristics (read: cognitive shortcuts) employed by humans to make better sense of their world when resources are limited (i.e. time, energy). Heuristics are good and necessary for, as I mentioned, conditions where we are pressed for time and need to make quick decision, but what happens when we start to rely on them aside from these circumstances? When we carry them over into everyday life?

Clearly no answer I give holds true across all situations, but I will still venture my personal philosophy. When we use these cognitive shortcuts intended for scenarios where it's impossible for most appropriate cues to be taken into consideration, we run the risk of misreading situations. Cognitive shortcuts work because, subconsciously, they take the most salient cues that have proven successful in predicting outcomes over time and use them to draw a quick conclusion. Works fairly well when you just can't pay enough attention to everything you should be using to arrive at an answer. However, when you unnecessarily ignore these other cues and rely on shortcuts to draw conclusions under normal circumstance, you are in fact misreading the situation. You are not taking into account all you should and are therefore doing yourself a disservice. You are hastily and unnecessarily drawing conclusions. In short, if left unchecked, you succumb to living life based on stereotypes and prejudices.

What strikes me as funny is how I read now. I am an avid skimmer of non-leisurely texts. This includes, but is not limited to, AIM, fb, twitter, instructions, emails...basically everything I don't innately find interesting or chose to read on my own. What I find myself doing many times is rushing through the texts, not taking things in fully, and misreading and/or misinterpretting them. In short, I read through a heuristically-coated lens. And you see where that gets me, right? Looking a fool from time to time when I respond according to what I assumed was written as opposed to what was there in reality. Lesson of the Day, kiddies: Heuristics of out context = BAD! Hmmm, part of me wonders if subconsciously my skimmings are biased by my initial reading mishaps back in primary school. Are these initial errors ingrained in my subconscious? Perchance...Whatever the case, one must read correctly, both literally and cognitively, in order to succeed. You can't get it right if you don't comprehend correctly.