Have you ever been in an argument, debate, discussion, or fist fight about some interesting intellectual idea? Of course you have because you’re a totally normal person. As such, you'll know that one of the greatest challenges is to hold your tongue when you have something to say. Basic civility demands it of us, and rightly so. It's either that or gun fights at high noon, ye yella belly.
This is one of the pitfalls of discussion. Though it is great at challenging our preconceived notions and forcing us to put our ideas plainly, it stifles our ability to think extemporaneously.
So if you’re wanting to bake better ideas, more precise, more free, do not really only on your tongue. For it is pen in hand that truly takes the cake.
Are you Intellectually Virtuous?
When I was a boy, I got into an argument with my father about whether or not New Zealand was in Africa. I was convinced it was. So much so that I yelled at him for suggesting I was saying something dumb. Turns out, I was saying something dumb (some things never change).
Spontaneity.
Where do ideas come from? The brain? The mind? An unconscious chain of neurochemical interactions? Cranial micro-gnomes? Nobody really knows the answer to these questions, especially me.
All I know is that ideas come to my attention from somewhere, and that I have little control over them. Discussion is an especially good nursery for these spontaneous ideas, but we can't just blurt out each new idea as it occurs; it's rude (so I’ve been told).
Writing has no such problem. I do not have to wait. I do not have to filter the expression to be acceptable or tolerable to another mind. I can pen every weird and spontaneous thought I have when I have it. In fact, it would be rude not to.
Train of Thought.
I find it hard to hold onto my train of thought during discussions. Either I forget what I was going to say while I'm listening to the other person speak. Or while speaking myself, my concern for proper communication overrides my ability to follow the stream, and I get lost, and forget, and end a long diatribe with a "yeah so..."
But when I'm writing, it's far harder to lose the stream. It becomes the sole and alluring siren of my attention. And after a few minutes of swimming in that stream, I am able to follow it at length, without stopping, down rabbit holes and into my very own wonderlands.
Authentic.
Humans can be authentic in the way they behave, as we well know from our colleague, Rodney the snorting eater. But even more foundational than action, are the unique lines of thought that underpin them.
Few of us actually spend time and attention uncovering our own thinking. It tends to waft by us, unnoticed and certainly unexplored. That’s what writing can offer: a wonderful tool for the exploration of our own thought.
So, do you want to discover your own thoughts as deeply and intimately as you can? Then pick up the pen. And in doing so, you’ll not only discover what you think already, but also a plethora of new thoughts you could have if only you let them breathe.
What's more beautiful than a writer?
Beautiful. We all say it. We all know it when we see it. But what if there is no “it”? What if I told you there are many beauties? Each similar and yet distinct.
Tell us.
We often think our ideas are irrelevant. They may be stupid. They may be pointless. But who said ideas have to have a point, or be smart or popular?
Human beings are creatures of expression. Our ideas are not only part of our identity, but perhaps the largest or even the only part.
We don't need a reason to express. Nor do we need to apologise. If you have something to say, you can of course say it. But better yet, write it down. Nothing Takes the internal and makes external quite like ink.
Do you think ‘grabbing a keyboard’ has the same effect?