Writing is like exercise. It’s just good on so many levels.
Yet, much like exercise is for most people, I tend to have little flares of interest, where I get really into it for a week or two, then lose steam, and it just becomes a dormant blog again. You might have had a similar experience, and maybe even have a cobwebby blog or two out there. Perhaps you have some really cool half-finished google docs that you never quite got around to finishing and publishing. It’s a funny thing though, about writing being like exercise. Because do you remember what exercise used to be called when you were a child? Play. And I remembered on a recent vacation I took, where I had the slack to remember, that writing is play. I fell back in love with writing then, typing away furiously on the beach. Not only was it intrinsically fun, but I also loved that it felt like I was making a difference, writing about important topics. That my recommendations were helping people, whether it be making them happier or making them higher impact, or sometimes, if I was lucky, both. To help myself (and perhaps you) remember this and all the other reasons to write, I’ve decided to write about all the reasons I have to write. Reading the list will inspire me and hopefully others. Publishing it will publicly commit me to writing, which will make it more likely. Even better, it could potentially re-inspire some people, perhaps you, to start writing for the forums again. Or maybe even it’ll get you excited to try your hand at writing publicly, even though you’ve never done it before. Epistemic status: motivational Epistemic status: motivational. An explanation of my personal experience that doesn’t generalize to all people. This isn’t meant to be a nuanced look into the pros and cons of writing. It’s meant to inspire a subset of the population (and myself!) to write more. None of this applies to all writing or all people. It’s meant more as a manifesto rather than a research piece. Of course, this is the EA Forum, so feel free to debate the merits and demerits of writing in the comments. Now, with all that hedging out of the way, here’s a giant list of reasons why you, the community, and myself should write. Some reasons to write The reasons to write fall broadly into three categories: enjoyment, capacity building, and impact. Enjoyment and other personal benefits Writing can be personally gratifying in so many ways.
Capacity building
Impact and other benefits to the world Improve the conclusions of the community. This then improves their actions, leading to impact.
I hope this also inspires you to dust off an old blog or start a new one. To experience writing as dancing. Where it counts as exercise and is good for you, but you don’t even care about that, because it’s just so damn fun. Read more: All
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