Some scientific research concluded that writing in cursive better encodes information into your brain. This is due to the number of neurons that are fired with pen-strokes, as a wide variety of hand movements are required. Cursory writing accomplishes this goal more effectively than other forms of writing. Printing by hand is the next most optimal means to encoding thoughts. Typing fires the least neurons, so this is the least effective for memory. It is, however, the fastest, and also rather unavoidable in today’s world. After spending so much time in front of a screen, we get caught in a rut of typing and information cascades.
In the age of information overload, reductionism is a coping mechanism. Lists are a means of reductionism. So to combat the bulk of information you are overloaded with on daily basis, I’m going to present a list. This list will be a compilation of different writing mediums you could explore–both on and off the screen. Experimenting with new mediums may change the way we remember and relate information. And that’s important. We could generate new thoughts, just be placing them on a different surface.
So here are 35 new mediums to try:
1. Plastic milk jugs
2. Dried leaves
3. Whiteboards
4. Blackboards
5. Corkboards
6. Rocks of varying shapes and sizes
7. Wax paper
8. Your body
9. Somebody else’s body, with verbal consent
10. Napkins
11. Money, but you didn’t get the idea from me
12. Apples
13. Cardboard
14. Glass panels
15. Rubber erasers, for the irony
16. Paper plates
17. Tin foil
18. Candy wrappers
19. Bricks
20. Brick walls
21. Drywall
22. Tabletops
23. Table bottoms; watch out for gum
24. Table legs
25. Seashells
26. Turtle shells
27. On computer screens
28. On the sides of pencils
29. Watermelons
30. 2×4 boards
31. Dead skin
32. Chicken bones
33. Jeans
34. Toilet paper
35. Your bed sheets
This list is not conclusive. Feel free to add more for yourself. The process of writing on different mediums, even if the words/ideas do not change, may make you think about the writing in a different way. This divergent thinking may help you overcome mental road blocks. It is a worthwhile activity, I think. So explore. Let your pen roam wild. Bleed ink on inappropriate places. You’ll never know what you may find.
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