I tend to think trying to speed up thought in general is a fool’s errand.

However, as others have noted, there are clear exceptions, and training a pathway does indeed speed up thinking on that pathway.

I’ll highlight another example of thinking speed changing:podcasts. Given that I have to listen and comprehend most words, and listened-to words use the same pipeline as thought words (I can’t listen and think words at the same time; at best I can context switch quickly) I think it’s reasonable to say that listening (with comprehension) is thinking.

When I first started listening to podcasts, I started at 1.25x. Then 1.5x. Then 2x. Now I’m at 2-2.5x on everything. I’m disappointed when things like YouTube don’t let me push past 2x (a silly limitation you should fix if any YouTube engineers are reading).

It seems I did train myself to do general-purpose symbolic thinking at 2x. Recall is pretty good, too. I tend to go on walks while I listen, so I get a natural IRL memory palace effect.

Which begs the question: is thinking rate fixed? Probably not actually. I think people tend to underestimate what is possible until they see/experience someone doing it; a self-imposed tyranny of low expectations.