Maria Montessori stated almost a hundred years ago, “The hand is the instrument of intelligence. The child needs to manipulate objects and to gain experience by touching and handling.” Although, considering the comment below, fortunately there are other tools that can assist children and adults who need assistive solutions, but many don't.
I had a history professor in college who would fill the chalk board with handwritten notes before each class. She told us on day one that the only way to succeed in her class would be to copy the notes as she lectured. Her expectations were high, but clear, and I copied probably 4 pages of notes per class. Looking back, I’m so grateful for the time she took to write those notes on the board and her commitment to meaningful learning.
My mum (nurse, breast cancer counselor and trauma counselor) always, always says to write everything out on paper. What is happening in our brain travels down through your arm and hand and out onto the page where you can look at it. It's an emotional AND a physical action that can help make sense of things. And given how horrendous my handwriting it is at 48 I could probably heed her suggestion!!!
Many people have a condition now recognized as fine motor delay where handwriting is extremely difficult for them. They can draw, etc but can’t write or do things like tie shoelaces. Your argument would be torture for them!
Love this. While in medical school lectures, it didn’t make sense for me to use paper for everything, as I would have needed to carry around a 40 lb backpack to carry all my notes, but I fundamentally knew that taking written notes would help me absorb and interact with the content. I used an iPad and Apple Pencil, the notability app, and a “Paperlike” iPad screen protector to take all of my notes. Though definitely not as good as paper and pen (nothing beats the satisfying feeling of gliding a pen on paper), this allowed me to intermix the importance of physical writing with the convenience of technology.
I'v found this to be true for creative writing also! I've been struggling with figuring out why my old writing felt so different (more immersive and gripping) from my more recent writing, and it wasn't until I went back to drafting in a notebook that I put it together. Using a pen and paper allows you the freedom to pause while writing without feeling the draw to leave and do something else, which has been great for me in actually connecting with my story again. Also it just brings me back to when I was a kid scribbling away in my notebooks late at night! :)
I love this! I'm a calligrapher on the side, and so I deeply value the (increasingly rare) art and practice of handwriting. I'm excited about your concept of the "revenge of the analog" and hope we see shifts like writing essays by hand more and more.
I couldn't agree more. I started university in 2000 and for the entire 4 years wrote the first drafts of all my essays by hand. And like another commenter mentioned, taking notes by hand while listening closely helps so much with comprehension. I am a professor now and try to encourage my students to take notes by hand, if possible. I still take notes by hand, draft things by hand, etc.
While I’m not related to the Keim referenced (at least not to my knowledge), I couldn’t agree more with his take and yours, Katherine. There’s a reason why Leutchtturm’s motto is “denken mit der Hand” (think with the hand).
Maria Montessori stated almost a hundred years ago, “The hand is the instrument of intelligence. The child needs to manipulate objects and to gain experience by touching and handling.” Although, considering the comment below, fortunately there are other tools that can assist children and adults who need assistive solutions, but many don't.
I had a history professor in college who would fill the chalk board with handwritten notes before each class. She told us on day one that the only way to succeed in her class would be to copy the notes as she lectured. Her expectations were high, but clear, and I copied probably 4 pages of notes per class. Looking back, I’m so grateful for the time she took to write those notes on the board and her commitment to meaningful learning.
My mum (nurse, breast cancer counselor and trauma counselor) always, always says to write everything out on paper. What is happening in our brain travels down through your arm and hand and out onto the page where you can look at it. It's an emotional AND a physical action that can help make sense of things. And given how horrendous my handwriting it is at 48 I could probably heed her suggestion!!!
Many people have a condition now recognized as fine motor delay where handwriting is extremely difficult for them. They can draw, etc but can’t write or do things like tie shoelaces. Your argument would be torture for them!
Love this. While in medical school lectures, it didn’t make sense for me to use paper for everything, as I would have needed to carry around a 40 lb backpack to carry all my notes, but I fundamentally knew that taking written notes would help me absorb and interact with the content. I used an iPad and Apple Pencil, the notability app, and a “Paperlike” iPad screen protector to take all of my notes. Though definitely not as good as paper and pen (nothing beats the satisfying feeling of gliding a pen on paper), this allowed me to intermix the importance of physical writing with the convenience of technology.
I'v found this to be true for creative writing also! I've been struggling with figuring out why my old writing felt so different (more immersive and gripping) from my more recent writing, and it wasn't until I went back to drafting in a notebook that I put it together. Using a pen and paper allows you the freedom to pause while writing without feeling the draw to leave and do something else, which has been great for me in actually connecting with my story again. Also it just brings me back to when I was a kid scribbling away in my notebooks late at night! :)
I love this! I'm a calligrapher on the side, and so I deeply value the (increasingly rare) art and practice of handwriting. I'm excited about your concept of the "revenge of the analog" and hope we see shifts like writing essays by hand more and more.
I couldn't agree more. I started university in 2000 and for the entire 4 years wrote the first drafts of all my essays by hand. And like another commenter mentioned, taking notes by hand while listening closely helps so much with comprehension. I am a professor now and try to encourage my students to take notes by hand, if possible. I still take notes by hand, draft things by hand, etc.
While I’m not related to the Keim referenced (at least not to my knowledge), I couldn’t agree more with his take and yours, Katherine. There’s a reason why Leutchtturm’s motto is “denken mit der Hand” (think with the hand).
I wrote about coming to a similar conclusion in our newsletter about the importance of paper if you’re interested. https://open.substack.com/pub/kathekon/p/paper?r=7j6pb&utm_medium=ios