One thing I need to ask around is if people in general think better with a pen in hand.
For me, I feel like there’s a clear difference in writing something out with a pen when I’m thinking vs. just thinking about a topic vs. writing with a keyboard.
The pen seems to add clarify and reinforcement to my thoughts. I strongly prefer
Is there something fundamental about writing? Or have we been using it so much during our school days that it’s grown on us as trigger? As in the minute we grab it, our brains became so used to learning with it that we unconsciously kick off some process?
Anyhoo, a few things come to mind why writing is more potent in learning and organizing thoughts compared to typing:
- There’s no restriction imposed on when you’re using a pen. When you’re typing on the computer, you’re confined to the characters on the keyboard. There are less restrictions imposed on writing.
- If you’re looking at the paper when you’re writing, you’re getting continuous feedback. You feel the stroke of the pen tracing the paper, and you’re seeing the ink make marks in real time. Compared to the screen. You’re typing each character one by one, and there is definitely a delay between when you type vs. what you see. It’s very discrete.
- There’s some sense of uniqueness to your writing or all your drawing. Chances are, of course there will be people who have a very similar handwriting, but your handwriting is unique. Compare this to again typing on a keyboard, where all fonts pretty much look more similar.
That’s all I have so far. Maybe I’ll come back to this topic when I have more data or insight.