Writing by hand is good for your brain • Hacker News Board

Re: Writing by hand is good for your brain

#51

Post by criddell » Thu, Jul 23, 2026, 3:54 PM UTC

erickhill wrote: post #6

This is why I use a reMarkable tablet for my notes. I noticed a few years ago that when I wrote down my notes I actually remembered them more easily. Something about the hand/brain connection helped etch my thoughts more deeply. I still use Apple Notes, but more as a place to store copy/paste info I want to save or checklists. But for meeting or game design notes? Writing those down 100%.

The Remarkable tablet is so close to what I want. I just wish it was 13".

My iPad is 13" and having a a display about the same size as a sheet of A4/letter paper is nice. It's so nice to have a full size display for marking up pdfs.

Now that I've gotten used to the iPad with Goodnotes, I'm not sure I'd get a 13" Remarkable. I'd probably buy one, but I suspect their notes app would be enough of a downgrade that I would probably return it.

Re: Writing by hand is good for your brain

#52

Post by THansenite » Thu, Jul 23, 2026, 3:58 PM UTC

postalcoder wrote: post #20

A corollary to this is, when reading books, mark them up! Don’t be precious with them. Destroy the spine so it’s easier to read, fold pages, write the important stuff inside the front cover of the book. Cross out stuff you disagree with, draw a big circles around the stuff that resonates. Not only does it make consumption a lot more engaging, it makes a revisit of that book extremely rewarding. Don’t get caught up tr…

I recently overcame this as I've been reading more of the unread books populating my shelves. I always wanted to keep my books in pristine condition and never wanted to mark them up. Now, I realize they are part of MY collection and marking them up with highlights, underlines, notes, etc., only make them more valued since they contain their intrinsic knowledge from the author as well as my own views. Even if I want to give them to friends to read, they'll see areas that jumped out to me and maybe appreciate some of the additional context or focus I noted as well.

Re: Writing by hand is good for your brain

#53

Post by Waterluvian » Thu, Jul 23, 2026, 3:58 PM UTC

postalcoder wrote: post #20

A corollary to this is, when reading books, mark them up! Don’t be precious with them. Destroy the spine so it’s easier to read, fold pages, write the important stuff inside the front cover of the book. Cross out stuff you disagree with, draw a big circles around the stuff that resonates. Not only does it make consumption a lot more engaging, it makes a revisit of that book extremely rewarding. Don’t get caught up tr…

I love nothing more than going through my mom’s cookbooks and seeing all her notes. It connects me with her even though she’s gone.

Re: Writing by hand is good for your brain

#54

Post by ambicapter » Thu, Jul 23, 2026, 3:58 PM UTC

otterpro wrote: post #49

> you’re going to get tired faster if your muscles have to exert more force I like to handwrite, but my right hand gets tired very fast, especially as I got older. I write almost a shorthand style, and it is hard to read, but I value speed of writing things down versus the neatness or readability afterward. The author recommends fountain pen or gel rollerball pen, which I have both tried. Does anyone have any other a…

Write slower.

Re: Writing by hand is good for your brain

#55

Post by derangedHorse » Thu, Jul 23, 2026, 4:00 PM UTC

> Removing friction by using a hard stylus on glass will actually make the process more tiring.

Well since I've never written with a fountain pen, and the type of paper I write on with the fountain pen matters, I'm probably better off picking up the habit with an ipad or the like.

From the source paper:

> Existing literature indicates that connectivity patterns in these brain areas and at such frequencies are crucial for memory formation and for encoding new information and, therefore, are beneficial for learning

I would also be interested in whether the parts lighting up are actually contributing to learning the task at hand. The 2024 paper quoted above didn't mention a test for comprehension. The prior Stanford experiment also reasoned that writing helped with comprehension because students were forced to summarize.

I'd like to see an experiment that forces both groups, typing and writing, to summarize while their brains are scanned. I'd also like to see results from tests for comprehension for each group. I feel like that would make a stronger case for whether the benefit from writing is actually worth it.

Re: Writing by hand is good for your brain

#56

Post by satvikpendem » Thu, Jul 23, 2026, 4:01 PM UTC

Somewhat related, I've seen more and more colleges now banning devices in class and reverting to handwritten notes and exams only, presumably due to AI. When I went to college this was actually already done, where many professors, even for CS, made you write code by hand. And it's true, it actually helps you reason better when writing it down over typing it.

Re: Writing by hand is good for your brain

#57

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Jul 23, 2026, 4:02 PM UTC

otterpro wrote: post #49

> you’re going to get tired faster if your muscles have to exert more force I like to handwrite, but my right hand gets tired very fast, especially as I got older. I write almost a shorthand style, and it is hard to read, but I value speed of writing things down versus the neatness or readability afterward. The author recommends fountain pen or gel rollerball pen, which I have both tried. Does anyone have any other a…

[deleted]

Re: Writing by hand is good for your brain

#58

Post by uberstuber » Thu, Jul 23, 2026, 4:02 PM UTC

otterpro wrote: post #49

> you’re going to get tired faster if your muscles have to exert more force I like to handwrite, but my right hand gets tired very fast, especially as I got older. I write almost a shorthand style, and it is hard to read, but I value speed of writing things down versus the neatness or readability afterward. The author recommends fountain pen or gel rollerball pen, which I have both tried. Does anyone have any other a…

If you're willing to try things like non-dominant hand writing, it may be worth learning something like business cursive. Most of the movement is done with your arm, and it was designed for people who had to handwrite all day for their job.

Re: Writing by hand is good for your brain

#59

Post by neovive » Thu, Jul 23, 2026, 4:04 PM UTC

I'm curious about everyone's opinion on writing "by hand" with a stylus on tablets like the Remarkable, Kindle Scribe, iPad+Pencil, etc.

I like sketching and outlining with pencil and paper, but my handwritten notes are often illegible and disorganized. I know it's partly process and my poor penmanship, but digital surfaces compensate for this with built-in organization, searchability, and easier integration into projects and knowledge bases.

Re: Writing by hand is good for your brain

#60

Post by creaturemachine » Thu, Jul 23, 2026, 4:04 PM UTC

postalcoder wrote: post #20

A corollary to this is, when reading books, mark them up! Don’t be precious with them. Destroy the spine so it’s easier to read, fold pages, write the important stuff inside the front cover of the book. Cross out stuff you disagree with, draw a big circles around the stuff that resonates. Not only does it make consumption a lot more engaging, it makes a revisit of that book extremely rewarding. Don’t get caught up tr…

Unless it's from the library. I've had to keep an eraser handy to undo some rando's bizarre markups.