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Writing by hand is good for your brain

nealstephenson.substack.com

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Re: Writing by hand is good for your brain

#421

Post by poolnoodle »

apparent wrote: post #292
lynndotpy wrote: post #250

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My issue with the iPad is that it just does not have the fine-fidelity or response time of real ink, and it's not something that never fails. It's so frustrating to be so pregnant with an idea, to open ones iPad, and to find out the battery is low, Procreate isn't working, the Notes app is confusing to navigate, oh no you're writing but your palm has slid on the screen, etc. I've spent a lot of time searching for a d…

I do find the iPad battery drain to be annoying and inexplicable. When they first came out, iPads held a charge for weeks in standby. New ones drain in a few days, even when background app activity and such are disabled. And you're right that it is frustrating to pick up your iPad and discover that the battery is near-dead, which happens with surprising frequency. That critique doesn't apply to Remarkables or Kindle…

I agree. My iPad 2 could last a month or more in standby. My iPad 8 maybe one to two weeks.

Re: Writing by hand is good for your brain

#423

Post by exmadscientist »

drivers99 wrote: post #227
exmadscientist wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The modern version of this is the Pilot G2. Scatter 'em around everywhere! 80% as good as fountain pens at 1% of the fussiness. I have a Lamy 2000 (well, more than one...) that I adore for writing anything with any actual length. But I still scatter those G2s around.

I used to be a fan of Zebra Sarasa (retractable, not one of the variations) which I thought was better than the G2, but it wasn't always reliable (maybe they changed something), was more expensive, hard to find in stores (G2 are everywhere though), and accumulates a glob of ink when you draw a line across the page, which ends up wherever you next write something. I happen to have a G2 next to me so I'm testing it for…

The G2 definitely does glob. That's one of its bigger faults. (Others being that I, personally, prefer a line width between the 05 and 07 options -- obviously this is world-stoppingly critically important -- and that really old ones, I mean really old, tend to get disgusting sticky grips.)

Mostly they're just nice for being fairly rugged and reliable in a way most nicer pens just aren't, for carrying loads of ink, and for being ubiquitous. They're far from perfect. They're just... Good Enough™. And that's good enough!

Re: Writing by hand is good for your brain

#424

Post by lo_zamoyski »

Diogenesian wrote: post #74
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 buy used books: it sucks to see someone else's notes scribbled all over the page. It's like a really annoying guy whispering at you with vapid explanations while you're trying to pay attention to a lecture. "Cross out stuff you disagree with" actually makes me sick. It also seems useless for understanding and retention, since highlighting is almost always misleading and margin notes are almost always empty. If you…

You may dislike buying used books like that, but the purpose of the previous owner wasn't to satisfy your future desire for a pristine copy. The purpose was his own knowledge. If that's what works for him, so be it. It's his book.

So it's a little self-centered to make this about you. It's not.

Re: Writing by hand is good for your brain

#425

Post by JoeBOFH »

manmal wrote: post #418
SubmarineClub wrote: post #409

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Handwriting notes engages your spatial memory, which is incredibly powerful (see: the ancient method of loci/memory palace techniques) There were times in college where I blanked on important information during an exam, but was able to recall it by visualizing the physical sheets I had written my notes on. I aced several infamously difficult classes like OChem and OChem 2 using that technique. I’ve never found it pos…

Have you tried a virtual board, like Miro?

Not above commenter but I have. I have done OneNote, Miro, and several other canvas style apps. And for me it still just doesn’t click in my brain like writing it down.

Re: Writing by hand is good for your brain

#426

Post by k9294 »

I'm a huge fan of fountain pens, it's a very satisfying experience to write with a nice pen on a proper paper.

I use platinum 3776, it's quite expensive one, but it's just amazing. I originally bought it for sketches, but ended up using it for journaling.

Ended up buying one to my wife, she said I'm crazy to spend so much on a pen (200$) but few weeks after the gift she said that it's amazing and she enjoys it a lot.

Re: Writing by hand is good for your brain

#427

Post by chungusamongus »

Diogenesian wrote: post #74
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 buy used books: it sucks to see someone else's notes scribbled all over the page. It's like a really annoying guy whispering at you with vapid explanations while you're trying to pay attention to a lecture. "Cross out stuff you disagree with" actually makes me sick. It also seems useless for understanding and retention, since highlighting is almost always misleading and margin notes are almost always empty. If you…

I mean, that sounds like a you problem. Buy a new book or check to make sure the used book is not marked up before buying it.

Re: Writing by hand is good for your brain

#428

Post by mapkkk »

stiglitz wrote: post #344
Diogenesian wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I buy used books: it sucks to see someone else's notes scribbled all over the page. It's like a really annoying guy whispering at you with vapid explanations while you're trying to pay attention to a lecture. "Cross out stuff you disagree with" actually makes me sick. It also seems useless for understanding and retention, since highlighting is almost always misleading and margin notes are almost always empty. If you…

I’ll never forget seeing a girl in a cafe highlight, line by line, nearly an entire page of a textbook. Watching the page curl from the wetness, almost as if writhing in pain.

I'll (lightheartedly) come to their defense to say that this is how I and a lot of my peers made it through med school. The wetness of the page indeed unlocked some supressed memories.

I think it's a combination of a ritual and some sort of somewhat-more-elevated engagement (or wishing thereof) with the material. Somewhere between meditative ritual and attention aid. I doubt it helped much, if at all - except for Stabilo; they were the true winners.

Re: Writing by hand is good for your brain

#429

Post by john_strinlai »

Diogenesian wrote: post #396
ekelsen wrote: post #386

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then don't buy used books? They are _used_. If you want a new book, buy a new book?

I read two books recently that are out of print. One of them (Georges Rey's Contemporary Philosophy of Mind ) is $150 on Amazon, and out of stock. The other ( Philosophical Grounds of Rationality: Intentions, Categories, and Ends ) isn't on Amazon at all. Used bookstores are the only viable option. Books are treasures. The second book is an enormously valuable source of wisdom. I am glad nobody vandalized that wisdom…

>vandalized

for someone so concerned about knowledge, you don't seem to be too worried about continually using this word incorrectly.

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