Just read the following on the benefit of writing to help thinking:
Fantastic piece. Great writing too.
For those of us with woefully average gray matter, our minds have limited reach. For the past, they are enthusiastic but incompetent archivists. In the present, they reach for the most provocative fragments of ideas, often preferring distraction over clarity.
Love it.
Especially “reach for the most provocative fragments of ideas” and “often preferring distraction over clarity*”.
Writing provides scaffolding. Structure for the unstructured, undisciplined mind. It’s a practical tool for thinking more effectively. And sometimes, it’s the best way to truly begin to think at all.
Yep.
It’s not just that writing results in better thinking (for me), it’s that I cannot think without it.
At work, I journaled out all code and bugs I was working on. The daily plan. The meetings coming up and what I would say. On and on.
At home, I “write through” all the little projects. Plans. The progress. The current state of things and where I need to go next. I have to write it out, otherwise the project is stalled.
Really, it fells like we talk it through together, the many selves.
Writing forces you to tidy that mental clutter. To articulate things with a level of context and coherence the mind alone can’t achieve.
Nod.
It’s all a vague until it’s nailed down in black and white.
And now with LLMs, I can get a third opinion on things.
Yes third. Big “Me” the writer doing the thinking, little “me” of the past being introspected upon, and bro gpt4o.
Every day is a new opportunity to turn the ship. Let’s go guys!