Hey, kiddos, I was just thinking: Why do we write? By that I mean, why is it that, in every class, we construct essays and papers and expositions and write-ups? We all do it, even in classes that really shouldn't have writing in them (think math.)
I think it's because writing's good for the mind and soul. Think of it this way, there's two kinds of knowledge (as Bolos and O'Connor explained,) acquired knowledge and received knowledge. Received knowledge is basically facts that are given to you (Pythagorean theorem, History.) Acquired knowledge is when you figure out stuff for yourself. The latter is almost always better than the former for the brain. And guess what! Writing is one of the chief methods by which to acquire knowledge!
As far as writing being good for the soul, there's something magical about pouring your brains and heart and feelings onto a piece of paper or a computer screen. Kind of like the emotional release of suicide or crying, but without the messy cleanup.
That's what I think. What about you?
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I would completely agree with you that some kinds of writing are good for the soul and provide an excellent emotional release, but I don't think that we often get to experience that kind of writing in school. When we write essays for school they are almost always very formulated and designed to taech us specific things. Even when we read poetry we almost plug it into an equation for analysis.
ReplyDeleteI think that we should focus much more on the purely creative side of witing then apply rules later. Imagination is the first thing most people lose.
I think we write because it works. It's not like there's some blatant alternative. I think we write primarily in order to remember. Essays are just a collaboration of what you remember, creative writing is a means of remembering emotion, and who on earth would remember anything they learned in math class without writing it down.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, my response is quite basic. I think that to effectively answer the question you proposed, many other questions have to be explored. What inspired the first instance of writing? How has writing evolved since its beginning? The real answer lies in history and the subconscious mind.
...I find your comparison of writing to suicide sort of disturbing.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing writing is used for is to practice setting up and making logical arguments, and practicing clarity of formulating arguments in your mind. It's like clarity of thought, almost. I'm pretty bad at speaking clearly as of yet, but I can pretty much always write a lot more clearly. Also, the basic structure of writing is very logical, as its meaning is constructed in sequential order, changing word by word. Beneficial for some people, not for others, depending on whether a person learns best sequentially or visually/kinesthetically/whatever.
I'd actually argue that writing isn't the same thing as discovered knowledge/individual learning (as opposed to received knowledge/social learning). Writing can be the same thing as putting together ideas you have received from others, but in your own way. For example, writing a research paper would only be considered using discovered knowledge if you did the research with your own hands. If you were to read an article about a topic and then write, or write a paper synthesizing historical concepts or math concepts, that's still received knowledge, but you're developing a better understanding of it by putting it to your own words.