Why writing = thinking
And a quick update on life
M0.C11 Why writing = thinking
Let’s examine the difference between trying to solve a math problem in our heads alone, or with the help of pen and paper.
You can calculate 2*2 in your head.
Can you calculate 2222*222222?
Probably not in your head.
The latter is only a bigger problem, but not really a more complex problem. You’re only ever multiplying 2 by 2. The only reason we can’t solve it in our head is it's really hard to remember all the intermediate calculations.
But most of us can do it fairly simply if we write it down, and have a place to store our intermediated thoughts.
Here, the big problem is a collection of small but simple problems, and having the results of those small problems available to us allows us to solve the big problems.
I believe exactly the same logic applies to any kind of problem.
If you write problems you’re thinking about down, you become free of having to store all the information in your head. You can put down many many thoughts, and because they’re on paper, you can add and subtract and multiply those thoughts.
Writing therefore, allows us to think at a much higher level - the difference between calculating 4 and 493777284.
It appears to me that there’s really no way of doing high level thinking without writing down your thoughts, just because of the limit of our short term memory.
And so, in my mind, when someone is thinking about complex problems, what an observer will see is someone writing.
And that’s why it's essential to write.
Hi folks, it’s been a while. Been doing a lot of writing for work this year, and haven’t had a lot of focus for substack stuff :(
But someone I know started their substack today, and it reminded me of my frame of mind when I started this, and how much I still want to do it.
I am tempted to say I’ll write here more often, but since November of last year I’ve been trying this new thing - to focus.
Been trying to work just on what I’m now calling human insight academy. I’ve gotten big portions of a book written, some courses created and delivered, and generally trying to put everything into that.
This week and last I’ve been building the website ☺️
Humaninsightacademy.com
this piece above is actually a chapter from the book. That’s my priority right after the website ☺️
I feel like substack became performative at some point for me? I look at some of the old writing I’d published, it was so raw, unfinished, and so alive.
And funny.