the pencil and the keyboard: how the way you write changes the way you think [inbound 2014]
DESCRIPTION
My talk is called 'The Pencil and the Keyboard: How The Way You Write Changes the Way You Think'. In it, I'll talk about the science of writing: Why handwriting is better for taking notes, remembering and big-picture thinking -- but why typing on a computer is better for composing your ideas and communicating with others. It'll all be grounded in the story of how I became a full-blown pencil fanatic -- a person who buys rare pencils and always has a sharpener in my pocket.TRANSCRIPT
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I’m Clive ThompsonI report on how people think and communicate using today’s digital tools.
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“Cursive is dying!”Is handwriting somehow more natural, more suited to the brain?
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My pencil fetishI started getting obsessed when they re-issued the “Blackwing”, a 20th-century classic.
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My sharpener fetishI actually sit around thinking about them, too.
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My typing fetishI type 94 WPM, and still miss my old IBM “clicky” keyboard.
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Typing vs. WritingWhich one is better? It depends on what type of thinking you want to do ...
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Taking notesListening to a lecture? An experiment pits handwriting notes vs. typing notes ...
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Handwriting wins... when we take notes by hand, we recall more and synthesize more than when typing.
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Big picture thinkingDrawing it out can help you look at problem from 50,000 feet in the air.
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Doodling = goodDoodling seems to help us focus, retain more, and make creative, lateral leaps.
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But for creating?The advantage shifts -- and typing is better. Specifically, fast typing!
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Transcription fluencyWhen your fingers can’t move as fast as your thoughts, your ideas suffer.
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Teach typing ...... and you raise students’ test scores by 40%. We write longer, more complex ideas.
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24 words per minuteThe minimum speed, where your fingers no longer fight your brain. Even faster is better!
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Cognitive diversityMatch the tools you use for writing to the way you want to think.
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Thank [email protected]