[at-l] About Journaling

[jbullar1 at twcny.rr.com (Jim Bullard)]

At 05:11 PM 2/6/2005 -0500, Bob C wrote:
>Well, Let's see. I know Piaget studied both clams and kids and died three 
>years before I assembled my first computer -- a learning experience, 
>incidentally. Having read quite a lot of words on a computer over the past 
>20+ years, I could understand why he might think computer-driven writing 
>inferior to the pen and paper.
>
>But I blame laziness, not the means of recording expression, as the reason 
>for most computer drivel. Very few seem to use the primary advantage of 
>computers --  the ease of revision.
>
>However, I am curious about the alleged value of pencil and paper over 
>electronic keyboards.
>
>Weary

As a visually oriented person, I can't speak so much for words, but I know 
that there is something to the mental phenomenon that the right/left brain 
theory is trying to explain. The best exposition I have read of it is in 
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's "FLOW: The Psychology of Optimal Experience" and 
subsequent writings. I have experienced it while drawing, running and 
bicycling. It is a very real mental state that is quite different from your 
ordinary waking state, very aware and very focused. Time ceases to exist. 
The right/left brain theory tries to explain it in terms of the physical 
processes of thought but the study the theory is based on used far too 
small a sample and the subjects were all people who had abnormal brains to 
begin with so there is some doubt that the outcome applies to the normal 
brain. In any case the physical process occurring inside the brain is of 
interest only to neurologists. Knowing which synapses are firing will not 
help you attain a state of flow.

I disagree with the idea that computers necessarily interfere or prevent 
one from achieving the same level of focus as pencil and paper. I have in 
fact had limited experiences of that sort while working with my computer. 
The key, I believe, is familiarity. To the extend one wrestles with the 
medium, it will block the experience. It is your unfamiliarity with the 
tool/medium/instrument that blocks the experience, not the 
tool/medium/experience itself. Watch a concert violinist some time as they 
play. The really great ones will close their eyes much of the time and move 
with the music. The instrument is simply an extension of their body that is 
necessary to produce the sound. They aren't thinking about how to play the 
notes. That's automatic. They aren't "playing" the music, it is flowing 
through them.

Saunterer who can't pronounce Csikszentmihalyi's name but highly recommends 
his books.