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Why Writing by Hand Is Better for Memory and Learning

scientificamerican.com

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Re: Why Writing by Hand Is Better for Memory and Learning

#71

Post by bgoated01 »

ics wrote: post #47
softfalcon wrote: post #31

I was late to this game of "going backwards" to improve my memory and understanding of what I read and wrote. Being raised by two technologically forward engineers, we jumped on the palm-pilot/laptops/tablets/phones/e-readers bandwagon very early. 5 years ago I started turning back to calligraphy, fountain pens, and hand writing. I buy books and fill up my bookshelf. It wasn't just for the memory recall, it was the p…

People wishing to try experiencing the pleasure of fountain pens but avoid it because they are afraid of going down a rabbit hole can use the following: get one Platinum Preppy pen with black ink and either Medium (if you like thick, felt pen like lines), Fine (comparable to a regular ballpoint), or Extra Fine (if you keep your pencils extra sharp or normally use .38 or smaller pens) for $10 or less, and any notepad…

I picked up a preppy a couple of weeks ago. I got a fine nib, and after seeing how it writes I should have gotten extra fine, but the biggest issue I'm having is that it seems to want the pen held at a shallower angle than what works for me. If I fold my pinky and ring finger under in an uncomfortable position then I can get my grip close enough to the page that it consistently inks, but otherwise it isn't consistent, which felt frustrating rather than special. I ended up switching over to the $2 Zebra ball point pen that I bought at the same time, and have had a much better experience, including pen on paper dragging that feels just as smooth as the fountain pen.

I would like to have a good experience with the Preppy, but I don't know if this is just how it will be because I have large hands, or if I'm doing something wrong, or just got a defective pen. What is the pleasure that I should be looking for? Is there still hope I can experience it, perhaps with a different pen?

Re: Why Writing by Hand Is Better for Memory and Learning

#72

Post by chenxi9649 »

alok-g wrote: post #60
chenxi9649 wrote: post #51

I wonder if it also had to do with the fact that handwriting is slower . Which means that you generally hold the concept in your working memory for longer than typing. Which often times does not require the concept to be held in working memory at all because typing speed matches reading speed. I also wonder if looking down at the page as you write vs looking up at the board. Constantly looking up and down is like a h…

I too wonder the same thing. In addition to holding the concept in working memory for longer, writing being slower also leads to better refinement of the ideas as you write as the brain has more time to process the thought being written down.

what do you think is the difference between "being in the memory for longer" and "more time to process the thought"?

Re: Why Writing by Hand Is Better for Memory and Learning

#73

Post by chenxi9649 »

jerlam wrote: post #69
chenxi9649 wrote: post #51

I wonder if it also had to do with the fact that handwriting is slower . Which means that you generally hold the concept in your working memory for longer than typing. Which often times does not require the concept to be held in working memory at all because typing speed matches reading speed. I also wonder if looking down at the page as you write vs looking up at the board. Constantly looking up and down is like a h…

I had a teacher who told us that when we took notes, we could not just transcribe what the teacher said - we had to take the ideas and write them down in our own words, because we would actually be thinking and learning and not just brainlessly writing it down.

It's almost as if, the only way we have to validate whether or not we've understood something is to be able to explain the concept to ourself.

Therefore, understanding/learning == being able to explain to ourselves.

And the way to get better at understanding(aka. explaining the concept to ourselves) is to... repeatedly explain the concept to ourselves.

When you think this way, the Feynman technique is less a "method" to learn. But rather the fundamental truth as to how we all learn.

Re: Why Writing by Hand Is Better for Memory and Learning

#74

Post by asdff »

jerlam wrote: post #69
chenxi9649 wrote: post #51

I wonder if it also had to do with the fact that handwriting is slower . Which means that you generally hold the concept in your working memory for longer than typing. Which often times does not require the concept to be held in working memory at all because typing speed matches reading speed. I also wonder if looking down at the page as you write vs looking up at the board. Constantly looking up and down is like a h…

I had a teacher who told us that when we took notes, we could not just transcribe what the teacher said - we had to take the ideas and write them down in our own words, because we would actually be thinking and learning and not just brainlessly writing it down.

It depends on the class. If you tried pulling this in organic chemistry you would certainly fail the class. Writing down each and every step the professor is writing on the board for the reaction is critical in that class.

Re: Why Writing by Hand Is Better for Memory and Learning

#77

Post by MSFT_Edging »

intelligencesec wrote: post #70
softfalcon wrote: post #31

I was late to this game of "going backwards" to improve my memory and understanding of what I read and wrote. Being raised by two technologically forward engineers, we jumped on the palm-pilot/laptops/tablets/phones/e-readers bandwagon very early. 5 years ago I started turning back to calligraphy, fountain pens, and hand writing. I buy books and fill up my bookshelf. It wasn't just for the memory recall, it was the p…

I can never get over the "scratching" feeling of fountain pens. It gives me a weird goosbump feeling and makes them impossible to use. Am I using them wrong? Using the wrong brand/type?

Yeah, that comes down to the nib. Not all pens are scratchy. I sorta like a sweet spot of a little bit of scratchiness.

I have an old pilot metropolitan that is almost too smooth. I even dropped it once and had to re-form the nib. I usually use a pilot v5 rolling ball pen with the water based ink which is a little scratchy but requires very little pressure compared to a normal ballpoint.

Re: Why Writing by Hand Is Better for Memory and Learning

#78

Post by MSFT_Edging »

sowbug wrote: post #11

Anyone else remember less from reading an ebook compared to a physical one? This happens to me, and I think it's a similar explanation. I recall less of where I read something in an ebook. But in a physical book, I often remember that a phrase was at the top or middle or left side of a page, or that I was sitting in a particular chair when I read it. There's simply more of the brain working when I read a physical boo…

I've always had a terrible memory for things I've just read, even pre-smart phone. I always liked the idea of E-books but I couldn't find a solution for easily exportable notes so I gave up and started using small post-its where i'd give a 2-3 word summary and align it with the line on the page.

I still wish I had a unified way to take and export notes. If I could read a book on my ipad, make annotations and highlight, then export those highlighted excerpts + annotations to say, markdown, I'd be so happy.

Re: Why Writing by Hand Is Better for Memory and Learning

#79

Post by fatnoah »

chenxi9649 wrote: post #51

I wonder if it also had to do with the fact that handwriting is slower . Which means that you generally hold the concept in your working memory for longer than typing. Which often times does not require the concept to be held in working memory at all because typing speed matches reading speed. I also wonder if looking down at the page as you write vs looking up at the board. Constantly looking up and down is like a h…

My own personal and completely based on anecdote opinion on note taking is that I can write notes while paying attention to something else, but typing has a much higher cognitive load, so more of my attention is focused on operating a keyboard vs. listening.

I'm also someone that needs good visual organization to really study and learn things, so a habit I built in college was to write all of my notes, and then later transcribe them to computer. That helped it flow through my brain twice, organize the notes, and also do so when my sole task was working with the notes rather than capturing notes AND listening at the same time.

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