Missing Prereq on Speed-Reading

[nerdvana]

Shouldn't Speed-Reading (p222) have Literacy as a prereq?

Before anyone says I'm nitpicking, look at Research/TL on p217...

[David Johnston2]

No. Research requires understanding. Speed-reading doesn't, if you have Photographic Memory.

[Kromm]

Yeah, Speed-Reading has nothing to do with comprehension. It's just being able to glance over strings of symbols quickly. Olaf the Illiterate could take both Native Language (Native/None) and Speed-Reading, and use his skill to examine magical runes quickly without knowing what, if anything, they spell.

[Kawaii_Koneko]

speed reading is THE skill for flip picture books ^_~

[nerdvana]

Thanks for the quick answers!

[Anaraxes]

Olaf the Illiterate could... use his skill to examine magical runes quickly without knowing what, if anything, they spell

So, does Speed-Reading hurt Olaf's saving throw if he's pursuing a certain elven wizard?

[pawsplay]

Originally Posted by David Johnston2

No. Research requires understanding. Speed-reading doesn't, if you have Photographic Memory.

My background in psychology says this is utterly unrealistic. Speed-Reading is assuredly not a skill for absorbing vast amounts of atomically remembered symbols. Speed-Seeing is an entirely different skill.

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by pawsplay

My background in psychology says this is utterly unrealistic.

Photographic memory is utterly unrealistic.

[pawsplay]

Originally Posted by David Johnston2

Photographic memory is utterly unrealistic.

Some forms are obviously realistic. Globally is rather unrealistic, but I would not say utterly, at the level of detail GURPS usually works at.

[Ragitsu]

Originally Posted by David Johnston2

Photographic memory is utterly unrealistic.

Uh, what?

(I hate that ten character minimum requirement, I really do)