The Real Reason I Write

Most people think writing makes you smarter.

They're wrong.

Writing makes you realize how dumb you are.

Every time I sit down to write, I discover new depths of my own ignorance. Things I thought I understood dissolve into confusion. Arguments I believed were solid crumble under scrutiny.

This isn't a bug — it's the feature.

Consider what happens in your mind before writing:Ideas float freely, connecting effortlessly. Everything makes perfect sense. You're a genius!

Then you start writing, and reality hits.

That "brilliant" argument? Full of holes.

That "perfect" explanation? Circular reasoning.

That "revolutionary" insight? Actually just a cliché.

This is why most people avoid writing:

Not because it's hard to communicate their thoughts, but because it's terrifying to discover their thoughts don't hold up.

The truly dangerous part?

Most of our important decisions are based on unwritten thoughts:

• Career choices
• Relationships
• Investments

All built on ideas that have never faced the cruel scrutiny of the blank page.

We're not just unclear thinkers. We're unclear thinkers who don't know we're unclear.

Want to really scare yourself?

Try writing down your life philosophy. Your relationship strategy. Your theory of success.

Watch how quickly certainty becomes doubt.

Writing isn't just a tool for thinking clearly — it's a mirror that shows us how unclear our thinking has been all along.

And that's exactly why we need it.