This is really interesting - the idea that we need to remember to simply sit with our thoughts, not to always seek an answer or to perfect something either right away, but just actually process and write it down as it happens without the fear of it not being as we expected it to be. Sometimes when we don’t have solutions and we have to sit and figure it out on our own we are able to learn more in that period of waiting and wrestling with possibilities than we would in having a quick answer from AI. I’m not anti-AI, I just see a time and a place for it and I do believe you’re right that for our cognitive health we need to be able to simply sit with our thoughts at times.
You captured the tension well. The value isn’t just in finding answers, it’s in developing the capacity to stay with a question long enough for your own thinking to take shape.
Great piece ! I am trying to go back to writing notes by hand. The thought process is where we have opportunity to keep growing. Don't want AI to take that away.
Thanks for writing this with such clarity. As a father of a soon-to-be teenager, I regularly ask how I can build this capacity to think into my child but in reality, I should also be asking how I can continue to build it in myself. I will now look at my stack of journaling books gifted to me in recent years differently...
That’s a powerful realization. The capacity to think is something we model and practice. When your preteen sees you wrestle with ideas, reflect, and make sense of your own thinking, that’s the lesson she will walk away with. It is funny how much more they pick from watching than listening.
I’ve been journaling for almost five years now. Sometimes daily, sometimes sporadically. As a professional overthinker, I feel like it brings so much clarity to my thoughts!
What you mentioned about AI is true, the change is inevitable. To protect my own thinking I’ve developed the habit of writing my ideas on paper before writing online. It helps me stay true to my voice and not outsource my brain to the machine.
That’s a disciplined approach. Getting your thoughts down on paper first creates a buffer between your thinking and the machine. Thanks for reading and commenting.
This is really interesting - the idea that we need to remember to simply sit with our thoughts, not to always seek an answer or to perfect something either right away, but just actually process and write it down as it happens without the fear of it not being as we expected it to be. Sometimes when we don’t have solutions and we have to sit and figure it out on our own we are able to learn more in that period of waiting and wrestling with possibilities than we would in having a quick answer from AI. I’m not anti-AI, I just see a time and a place for it and I do believe you’re right that for our cognitive health we need to be able to simply sit with our thoughts at times.
Thank you for reading and sharing your thoughts.
You captured the tension well. The value isn’t just in finding answers, it’s in developing the capacity to stay with a question long enough for your own thinking to take shape.
Great piece ! I am trying to go back to writing notes by hand. The thought process is where we have opportunity to keep growing. Don't want AI to take that away.
Appreciate that. Writing by hand has a way of slowing thinking just enough to make it yours.
Thanks for writing this with such clarity. As a father of a soon-to-be teenager, I regularly ask how I can build this capacity to think into my child but in reality, I should also be asking how I can continue to build it in myself. I will now look at my stack of journaling books gifted to me in recent years differently...
Thanks for reading and commenting.
That’s a powerful realization. The capacity to think is something we model and practice. When your preteen sees you wrestle with ideas, reflect, and make sense of your own thinking, that’s the lesson she will walk away with. It is funny how much more they pick from watching than listening.
I’ve been journaling for almost five years now. Sometimes daily, sometimes sporadically. As a professional overthinker, I feel like it brings so much clarity to my thoughts!
What you mentioned about AI is true, the change is inevitable. To protect my own thinking I’ve developed the habit of writing my ideas on paper before writing online. It helps me stay true to my voice and not outsource my brain to the machine.
That’s a disciplined approach. Getting your thoughts down on paper first creates a buffer between your thinking and the machine. Thanks for reading and commenting.