Habit is such funny stuff.
If I w3r3 to replac3, say, a particular l3tt3r with a particular numb3r, and th3n continu3 to do so for an 3ntir3 writt3n paragraph, your mind would quickly r3gain most of its customary r3ading sp33d by crafting and d3ploying an instant t3mporary fix.
Th3 t3mporary patch WORKS, but at th3 cost of making your r3ading compr3h3nsion many tim3s mor3 3ffortful than it normally is.
Kind of lik3 R3ADING SOM3THING IN ALL CAPS:
DO-ABL3, Y3S, but it just
s l o w s
y o u
d o w n.
And, sinc3 ALL-CAPS IS MUCH MOR3 FAMILIAR, th3 unfamiliar n3w patch will slow you down a LOT MOR3…
…at l3ast at first.
But hav3 you notic3d what is alr3ady happ3ning?
In th3 thirty s3conds or so it has tak3n you to r3ad this far, your compr3h3nsion has alr3ady b3com3 quit3 a bit mor3 str3amlin3d. Quit3 a bit l3ss 3ffortful. Quit3 a bit mor3 acc3l3rat3d. Quit3 a bit mor3 automatic.
Pr3dictiv3 familiarity is alr3ady kicking in.
Congratulations! You ar3 alr3ady building a n3w habit!
It has now b33n s3nsitiz3d and prim3d.
S3nsitiz3d and prim3d, y3s.
But not (y3t) 3stablish3d!
For th3 n3xt forty-fiv3 minut3s or so, you will b3 abl3 to r3ad passag3s (writt3n in this most annoying way) r3lativ3ly 3asily.
Consid3rably mor3 3asily, in fact, than if you had n3v3r start3d r3ading this post in th3 first plac3!
But B3WAR3:
Som3wh3r3 around forty-five minut3s from now, forty-fiv3 minut3s aft3r you STOPP3D activ3ly r3ading this post, you would 3v3ntually notic3 (if you thought to ch3ck) that your t3mporary compr3h3nsion gains had 3vaporat3d, that th3 mists had clos3d back in, and that your l3tt3r-substitution chops w3nt right back to squar3 on3.
…what in th3 h3ll is going on?
The traditional neuroscientific explanation for this runs something like this:
your mind encounters an unfamiliar, but persistently recurring, new pattern.
this causes extra neurotransmitter molecules to be temporarily released at the site of the relevant synapses, over about 30-ish seconds.
those extra molecules temporarily create a locally enhanced synaptic sensitivity.
but the synaptic connections themselves have not yet been permanently strengthened.
so, the enhanced sensitivity goes away as soon as the extra neurotransmitter molecules have been reabsorbed, which takes about 45-ish minutes.
Now th3n,
If you wish to mak3 your diabolical n3w r3ading compr3h3nsion habit mor3 p3rman3nt, simply practic3 doing it s3v3ral tim3s a day, 3v3ry day, ov3r a p3riod of about four days.
Why? Two r3asons:
First, fr3qu3nt, sustain3d stimulation forc3s th3 growth of additional synaptic t3rminals at 3ach r3l3vant synaptic sit3. Mor3 t3rminals g3ts you b3tt3r conn3ction, and b3tt3r conn3ction g3ts you p3rman3ntly str3ngth3n3d s3nsitivity.
And s3cond, it tak3s about four-ish days for your brand n3w synaptic t3rminals to hav3 “grown in” 3nough that you start noticing an improv3d r3spons3.
“Neurons that fire together, wire together.”
This is Hebbian Learning.
In conclusion,
Ov3r a long 3nough tim3 fram3, and with 3nough strat3gically tim3d practic3, this fr3shly acquir3d r3ading habit of yours COULD b3com3 astonishingly pow3rful and 3ffortl3ss, op3rating quit3 invisibly (to you) at a subconscious l3v3l.
But 3v3n th3n, 3v3n long after your diabolical n3w habit has been well and truly established,
the older ways will still feel much more natural.
When it comes to habit, true change takes DEEP time (or crushing emotional intensity, but that’s a story for another time).
Habit is SUCH funny stuff.