Writing as a Way of Thinking - Article
Writing as a Way of Thinking
Summary
Dan Shipper discusses how writing is a valuable way of thinking but not the only way, as conversation can also enhance thought. He argues that while AI may change how we write, it won't eliminate the need for clear thinking and communication, especially in roles like management. Ultimately, AI can help people focus on more creative and interesting aspects of writing and thinking.
Highlights
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Writing is a way of thinking—one that is particularly valuable to me. But even in a world where writing goes away, many types of thinking will remain, and they’ll be augmented—rather than eliminated—by AI if we so choose.
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When you turn the vast, interconnected network of thoughts, feelings, and ideas in your mind into a line of words, you find sequence, order, and story. You expose fallacy and fuzziness. Externalizing your thoughts pins them down, and once they are pinned you can bring your whole mind to bear on them, over and over, to clarify and improve them.
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Managing is a thinking process—it’s a working-through. I see no reason to think that it will go away, even if AGI is achieved in the near term. In a world where more work is done by AI, the line of words that a person produces may more frequently look like a prompt than prose, but those who write more effective, creative, and interesting prompts will do better thinking than those who don’t.
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British philosopher Alfred North Whitehead famously wrote, “Civilization advances by extending the number of important operations which we can perform without thinking of them.”