it just hit me after reading 3liza's post about reading speeds that this is almost certainly why I've never been able to tolerate audiobooks. this has puzzled me my whole life. I have nothing against audiobooks in principle and I listen to podcasts constantly, but for some reason I can't handle being 'read to' for more than a passage or two before I start getting frustrated and antsy and losing focus. my reading speed is ~500wpm depending on text complexity. the average speed of audiobooks is apparently 150-160wpm. even a 'fast' narrator played at double speed would top out in the low 300s (and be unlistenable for other reasons). no wonder I get frustrated. it's the same feeling as when I was in school and we'd be forced to read assignment texts chapter by chapter for the sake of the slower readers, while I was chewing my fingers off with tedium. I'm just accustomed to processing information at a certain speed and density and literally get bored.


















