Absolutely. It helps me a lot, especially when it comes to remembering important tasks or planning my days.
Writing by hand is good for your brain
581–590 of 708 posts
Re: Writing by hand is good for your brain
#582On the gadget front, I really love the paperlike screen protector for the iPad. This combined with the Apple Pencil made a huge difference in the usability of my iPad for writing/drawing. I still prefer to write on paper, but it’s really great for things like my writing group where we generally meet over zoom & I can give the author a marked up manuscript (with multicolor notes). I’m also opposed to getting too preci…
Paperlike is indeed nice for handwriting, but it has drawbacks. The increased friction makes it uncomfortable to use your fingers to navigate the iPad for long, and since it makes the finger motion along the screen less smooth, it sometimes prevents the iPad from correctly interpreting drag-and-drop or multi-finger gestures in my experience. It also makes writing very noisy compared to the stock iPad, and also compar…
Across a decade, I’ve used a Paperlike on five different iPads ranging from the iPad Mini, standard iPad, iPad Pro, both Gen 1 and Gen 2 Apple Pencils plus other styluses and never once experienced the problems you suggest. I’m making this comment on an iPad wth aPaperlike protector in fact.
To the contrary, the noise levels when writing are dramatically lower and I simply cannot imagine anyone becoming fatigued because of a paperlike protector.
Re: Writing by hand is good for your brain
#583Earlier quoted context omitted.
I disagree. I love buying used books and seeing what other people found interesting, whether it's by way of notes in the margins, highlights, etc. I also love it when people write their name in the front of the book and when they read it. I like the idea of a single copy of a book making its way among many people, all adding their own thoughts.
If only people did this with care. I have seen too many books where people just highlight everything.
I once picked up an old copy of Bartlett’s Quotations and found that the prior highlighting owner found it nearly 100% profound.
Re: Writing by hand is good for your brain
#584On the gadget front, I really love the paperlike screen protector for the iPad. This combined with the Apple Pencil made a huge difference in the usability of my iPad for writing/drawing. I still prefer to write on paper, but it’s really great for things like my writing group where we generally meet over zoom & I can give the author a marked up manuscript (with multicolor notes). I’m also opposed to getting too preci…
> I really love the paperlike screen protector for the iPad
Let me purposely be a little provocative here, and I don't mean any disrespect:
This is missing the point. It's not just about using the hand for a writing motion. It's about the physical sensation of actual pen on actual paper. It's about turning pages, arranging them, organizing them. It's about the serialization and finality of the words you put down. The offline character that forces a different mental discipline and requires (and enables) focus. You get a lot out of leaving your electronic gadgets behind and that's why trying to emulate that on an iPad misses the point.
Re: Writing by hand is good for your brain
#585On the gadget front, I really love the paperlike screen protector for the iPad. This combined with the Apple Pencil made a huge difference in the usability of my iPad for writing/drawing. I still prefer to write on paper, but it’s really great for things like my writing group where we generally meet over zoom & I can give the author a marked up manuscript (with multicolor notes). I’m also opposed to getting too preci…
Pro Tip: In addition to the Paperlike protector, one can buy a range of different nib types from Amazon and experiment to find a one that suits you best.
Re: Writing by hand is good for your brain
#586Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think like many things, it's not universally true. At least for me I'm a really slow writer (and poor spelling), that if I were to hand write notes in a lecture, I'd focus on writing and miss half of what is said, and fall behind to the point that something I was copying from the board gets wiped off. Maybe typing isn't ideal, but it's the better of the 2 options for me.
When you are writing notes during lectures, you should not write word for word. If you do, you will never catch up with what is said. People often speak faster than they write. If you want to take notes during lectures, you need to learn how to summarize in your own words. You need to write the stuff down so you can remember what was in the lecture. Something you can summarize the whole sentence with one word. Notes…
The only way I could make the system work for me was to study the material before the lecture. Then the lecture helped cement what I'd learnt and clarify any points I struggled on.
Re: Writing by hand is good for your brain
#587[flagged]
Re: Writing by hand is good for your brain
#588This is a good pen: https://schneiderpen.com/uk/ballpoint-pen/slider-rave/132503
Re: Writing by hand is good for your brain
#589But how do you convert your handwritten notes into Markdown blog posts or LaTeX or Typst? Can multimodal LLMs do that?
Re: Writing by hand is good for your brain
#590But how do you convert your handwritten notes into Markdown blog posts or LaTeX or Typst? Can multimodal LLMs do that?
for sure... if your handwriting is good enough.