Been thinking about an observation from @dwalbert, about a castle in France being built using only medieval tools and techniques: “Simple tools foster complex patterns of use, while complex tools…” (via @dwalbert and @jabel, micro.blog)
A stone cutter in the video mentioned that he had to use his brain a lot more than his muscles. He had to listen for distinct sounds, a certain timbre, as he tapped to form the break. He had to use tacit knowledge, knowledge gained only through physical experience.
The same is true for paper. Paper is a true thinking tool. As physical tools, pens and paper help the human thinking process.
We don’t only think with our brains. We think with our feet (walking is a time-honored way to work out ideas).
We also think with our hands.
We get all kinds of nonverbal feedback and impressions from something like physically drawing a line on a piece of paper.
With pen and paper, I can:
Now, I also use a lot of apps. I have to use a lot of apps. No single app exists, that can do everything one can do with paper.
I can’t use my contact management app, for managing my budget.
But with a notebook, I could do both.
Are apps more efficient? Sometimes, sure. Other times I spend hours dealing with balky software; or getting sidetracked by all the other things more interesting than, say, updating a budget.
Increasingly, I’m pulling out a notebook and a pen, to see if it actually helps me do the work better.
REFERENCES
Friends build real castle from scratch with simple tools only (2022). Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ajqort8ldXA (Accessed: 1 September 2022).