The Engine of Synthesis: How Writing Makes You a Better Thinker
But you want to be in the practice of externalization every day.
Substack • The Engine of Synthesis: How Writing Makes You a Better Thinker
You're taking disparate, fragmented ideas and thoughts and putting them into a structured piece of content, like an essay. It doesn't matter whether you publish the essay or whether anyone else reads it—though you should write it as if other people will read it because it forces you to be concise and clear.
Substack • The Engine of Synthesis: How Writing Makes You a Better Thinker
When you write out problems you're stuck on, the solutions are more likely to appear. When you think through and write about decisions you're struggling to make, it often becomes obvious what you need to do. And if it's not obvious, well, you've developed a clearer picture of the pros and cons and your subconscious mind will be able to do better wo
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simply taking notes and copying word-for-word the highlights in books you read is not really a useful form of externalization. This is partly due to the endowment effect—we highlight and get a sense of ownership over words we haven't written, and we think we understand them when really we don't. It's also because there's minimal cognitive processin
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When you're reading a book, or an article, or watching a video and something sparks inspiration for you, I think it's best to go and write about it right there and then. Inspiration is fleeting, and if you take the path of laziness and say "Oh, I'll come back to that." Then it's unlikely to happen.