Is it ego?

[Borommakot]

I admit that I am under eighteen, which to many of you may explain a few of my flaws in education and outlook(from lack of experience). But I don't understand why it is that adults often assume that they are smarter or more athletic(just plain better) than children? Is it ego? Myself not being an adult, I find it hard to come up with a concrete answer. Many of you, being adults, probably have some input on this matter.
The reason this is confusing to me is because I have proved that I am a faster reader than my english teacher, and that while maintaining that reading speed, I comprehend more than she does. I never assert the fact that I am smarter or better than her, because I don't believe that that is true. But still everytime I finish a book or a story or an essay, She makes me read it again, and says that skipping sections is against the rules.
In order to prove that I don't skip sections, I took a comprehensive test on three obscure books of her choice, and recieved almost a hundred percent. She did the same with three books of my choosing. I finished first and with better scores. Still, she thinks that I cheated in some way.
Does she believe that there is no way for me to be a faster and more comprehensive reader than her?

[ChochemV2]

I have a friend who can't stand to be prove wrong. When I point out he is wrong he'll argue quite vehemently until he feels he has confused the topic enough or gotten me to admit I could be wrong. Occasionally he'll parrot what I said at a later date and claim that he's always known it if I challenge him about it. This isn't an unfamiliar patter as I've known him for nearly a decade and it's been a constant from our days in school and into later life.

What I'm trying to get at is most of the things children consider to be "arrogant adults" is actually a personality type that they would recognize in plenty of people their own age if they weren't so focused on proving their worth compared to adults.

[Borommakot]

I know exactly what you mean, and now that I think about it there are kids that are like that, but I honestly believe that It comes from almost every single adult I know. It might not be obvious with some of them, but it's still there.

[Boyan]

Isn't the answer to this obvious? Jealousy.

How fast do you read - words per minute? I did the fast reading course from the book 'Fast reading method', and found that my degree of understanding dropped significantly at high speeds like 1400 words/minute, even with novels.

[Borommakot]

I read at about 950-1000 wpm with about 95% comprehension, and it drops to about 60% at 1200, and then to 30% at 1500.

I understand the jealousy part, but why does it come more from adults then my peers?

[DHodges]

Myself not being an adult, I find it hard to come up with a concrete answer. Many of you, being adults, probably have some input on this matter.

Sometimes, talking to a young person, you look back at how you were at that age; they say something you might have said then. You realize how it looked then, and how it looks from the perspective of a few more decades experience, and the impossibility of communicating something that it took so many years to learn.

Sometimes it's hard to remember what that perspective was like at all, and being eighteen today is probably a lot different from what it was like to be eighteen, twenty or thirty years ago.

At eighteen, you can probably think of things that you liked when you were ten or twelve that you now consider childish, or would be embarassed to still like. At thirty, you will feel the same about some things you think are really cool now. Some things that you think you understand, you will later see that you actually had a very superificial grasp.

If your teacher just thinks she must be better or smarter because she is older, then she is an idiot (which is pretty likely - most people are, after all). But she probably does have a lot more experience, has read a lot more books, has taken classes on interpretation of literature and so on. Her experience of "reading" may actually be a lot different from yours.

There is no point in trying to impress a teacher (beyond getting good grades). Needing to prove something to her is a matter of your ego. Try to let it go.

[Boyan]

I read at about 950-1000 wpm with about 95% comprehension, and it drops to about 60% at 1200, and then to 30% at 1500.

So you normally read at 1000 wpm. Do you use things like reading two/three rows at once, spiral reading etc?

[Carl G]

That's, like, 5 pages a minute. That's really, if you'll excuse the pun, really booking.

I used to speed read, especially when doing research. A book in an hour or less. Pretty much just scanning for content and style. Anymore I read to enjoy. I prefer to pour over less pages and really immerse myself in the material. Different purpose.

Do you read everything fast, all the time?

[Borommakot]

Oh, definitely not. I only read that fast when I am required to read a book that I don't want to. Cut that in half, and you have (approxamately) my wpm when I am reading at my liesure. Most of the time, like when I am reading a novel,

I prefer to pour over less pages and really immerse myself in the material.I

.

So you normally read at 1000 wpm. Do you use things like reading two/three rows at once, spiral reading etc?

I have tried reading to lines at once, and I find it very challenging, and hard to put to the test except for picking a text that I don't really care about, because it isn't that hard to read each word. But it IS hard to fully comprehend it.

There is no point in trying to impress a teacher (beyond getting good grades). Needing to prove something to her is a matter of your ego. Try to let it go.

You are very correct, I put a purpose to trying to prove that I am a faster reader than my teacher, but didn't pay attention to the reason I felt that my teacher should understand that she isn't the fastest reader in the world. It was my ego. Thank you Dhodges. Oh well, I hope some day to be able to completely differentiate between ego and dignity, and I'm sure(well, I hope) it will come with experience.

Sometimes, talking to a young person, you look back at how you were at that age; they say something you might have said then. You realize how it looked then, and how it looks from the perspective of a few more decades experience, and the impossibility of communicating something that it took so many years to learn.

Sometimes it's hard to remember what that perspective was like at all, and being eighteen today is probably a lot different from what it was like to be eighteen, twenty or thirty years ago.

At eighteen, you can probably think of things that you liked when you were ten or twelve that you now consider childish, or would be embarassed to still like. At thirty, you will feel the same about some things you think are really cool now. Some things that you think you understand, you will later see that you actually had a very superificial grasp.

Well, that does explain alot. Even though 15 years of experience should have given at least something CLOSE to that answer. Oh well, you't have the answer to everything. Or even .00000000000000000000000000000000000000000001/1000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 of everythying.