Topic: #writing #research #studying #learning Tags: #review #literature_note_v1_1 Links: [[Ahrens - How to take Smart Notes]] Author: Ahrens Date Created: 07-09-21
Writing is the only thing that matters1
For student, by writing they demonstrate what they have learned, their ability to think critically and to develop ideas.
Meaning writing is seen only as another skill.
Ahrens wants to second the importance of writing by this assumption:
- Studying is research.
By writing you don't start from stratch when you need to write a paper and you gain insight each time you learn something new.
Let's expand on research and studying :
- Studying done right is research, because
- it is gaining [[Insight]] that cannot be anticipated
- it is to find the truth -> the truth is always a public matter -> research inherently is (or at least seeks it)
- This [[Insight]] will be shared to be put under public scrutiny
For a piece of writing to become the truth they have to be coherent and based on facts.
If writing is the medium of research and studying nothing else than research, then there is no reason not to work as if nothing else counts than writing.2
Of course it does not mean that we are only writing.
Indeed, the most difficult part in writing, is not writing itself, it's the research (reading and thinking) that is the hardest part. As it is from the reading and the thinking that we write.
But as the quote below says, without writing the rest is not possible. Therefore, the objective is to take diligently notes when you are reading, watching, learning, when a thought comes in your head, etc... These notes are the draft that you will use to write whatever you want (book, academic paper, etc...).
Notes on paper, or on a computer screen [...] do not make contemporary physics or other kinds of intellectual endeavour easier, they make it possible,” - neuroscientist Neil Levy3
Writing makes us do things [[deliberately]] which is the only way to become better at what we do.
What ahrens wants us to understand is that even if we don't write an academic paper or a book or anything. The fact that we are writing and that we are acting as if that part is the most important action in our learning process, means that we are going to learn better
I think that it's very true, because when I read books and actively was writing I was much better at understanding what the author was saying and remembered it better.
It's a much better way to retain information than to simply highlight the text.
In conclusion writing not only allows for the research but to better connect, engage, focus on relevant aspects, understand, think beyond, etc...
- [[@ahrensHowTakeSmart2017]]