Eevn wtih mltiple msitkaes, the msesage is sitll clrlaey uesdnrotsod — If you read that effortlessly, your brain just performed a quiet trick. The brain does not scan each letter in strict order. As long as the first and last letters are in place, the mind often reconstructs the rest.
This is reinforced by what scientists call saccadic eye movements.
When we read, our eyes do not move in a smooth line across the page. Instead, they make rapid jumps, briefly stopping at points that carry the most info.
Short, familiar words such as “the” or “of” are often skimmed as the brain anticipates them before the eyes fully register them. Skilled readers depend on this mechanism to maintain fluency and pace without sacrificing comprehension.
But there is a downside. Since the brain prioritises meaning over precise detail, it can easily overlook repeated words and minor spelling errors.