We came across Nature’s editorial “Writing is thinking” (June 2025). It reminded us that in an AI world, putting pen to paper still matters.
Big Ideas
- Writing clarifies thought — Getting ideas out of your head and onto a page sharpens thinking and reveals what really matters.
- Handwriting strengthens memory — Studies show that writing by hand boosts brain connectivity and helps ideas stick more deeply than typing.
- AI text isn’t your thinking — Large-language models can draft quickly, but you end up reading the machine’s thoughts, not your own.
- Useful, but not a substitute — AI can edit, summarise, or spark ideas, yet the heavy lifting of reflection comes from us.
- Craft matters — Skipping the process risks losing the insight that comes only from wrestling words into place yourself.
∴
If we want sharper thinking, maybe the simplest step is also the oldest one: pick up a pen and start writing.
