I'm Clive Thompson, a journalist who reports on how people think and communicate using digital tools. The document discusses different ways of writing and note-taking, comparing the cognitive benefits of typing versus handwriting. It notes that handwriting tends to be better for note-taking in lectures and for big picture thinking, while typing is better for creation and allows for faster transcription of complex ideas, especially at speeds over 24 words per minute. The document encourages matching writing tools to the type of thinking one wants to do.

1. I’m Clive Thompson
I report on how people think and communicate
using today’s digital tools.

2. “Cursive is dying!”
Is handwriting somehow more natural, more
suited to the brain?

3. My pencil fetish
I started getting obsessed when they re-issued
the “Blackwing”, a 20th-century classic.

4. My sharpener fetish
I actually sit around thinking about them, too.

5. My typing fetish
I type 94 WPM, and still miss my old IBM
“clicky” keyboard.

6. Typing vs. Writing
Which one is better? It depends on what type of
thinking you want to do ...

7. Taking notes
Listening to a lecture? An experiment pits
handwriting notes vs. typing notes ...

8. Handwriting wins
... when we take notes by hand, we recall more
and synthesize more than when typing.

9. Big picture thinking
Drawing it out can help you look at problem
from 50,000 feet in the air.

10. Doodling = good
Doodling seems to help us focus, retain more,
and make creative, lateral leaps.

11. But for creating?
The advantage shifts -- and typing is better.
Specifically, fast typing!

12. Transcription fluency
When your fingers can’t move as fast as your
thoughts, your ideas suffer.

13. Teach typing ...
... and you raise students’ test scores by 40%.
We write longer, more complex ideas.

14. 24 words per minute
The minimum speed, where your fingers no
longer fight your brain. Even faster is better!

15. Cognitive diversity
Match the tools you use for writing to the way
you want to think.

16. Thank you!
www.smarterthanyouthink.net
clive@clivethompson.net