There Will Be a World of Thinks and Think-Nots Soon - Paul Graham

[Sincerity]

Here's an interesting essay I read from Paul Graham. https://paulgraham.com/writes.html

The argument is that writing is thinking. And since writing is quickly being outsourced to AI, we will soon have a world of writes and write-nots, and little in between.

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The reason so many people have trouble writing is that it's fundamentally difficult. To write well you have to think clearly, and thinking clearly is hard.

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Till recently there was no convenient escape valve for the pressure created by these opposing forces. You could pay someone to write for you, like JFK, or plagiarize, like MLK, but if you couldn't buy or steal words, you had to write them yourself. And as a result nearly everyone who was expected to write had to learn how.

Not anymore. AI has blown this world open. Almost all pressure to write has dissipated. You can have AI do it for you, both in school and at work.

The result will be a world divided into writes and write-nots. There will still be some people who can write. Some of us like it. But the middle ground between those who are good at writing and those who can't write at all will disappear. Instead of good writers, ok writers, and people who can't write, there will just be good writers and people who can't write.

Is that so bad? Isn't it common for skills to disappear when technology makes them obsolete? There aren't many blacksmiths left, and it doesn't seem to be a problem.

Yes, it's bad. The reason is something I mentioned earlier: writing is thinking. In fact there's a kind of thinking that can only be done by writing. You can't make this point better than Leslie Lamport did:

• "If you're thinking without writing, you only think you're thinking."

So a world divided into writes and write-nots is more dangerous than it sounds. It will be a world of thinks and think-nots. I know which half I want to be in, and I bet you do too.

This situation is not unprecedented. In preindustrial times most people's jobs made them strong. Now if you want to be strong, you work out. So there are still strong people, but only those who choose to be.

It will be the same with writing. There will still be smart people, but only those who choose to be.

To me, the conclusion is a bit too extreme, but there is definitely some truth to it. The ability to articulate thoughts is very important, and it could indeed be the case that a lot more people lose this muscle compared to today.

Some might argue that eg. "The core ideas are mine, so I am still thinking. I just want the AI to put the idea into words for me." I think there's some truth to that as well. But also: this muscle to put thoughts into words is very important, perhaps even crucial to building a solid foundation of understanding.

Inputting a core idea as a prompt and then AGREEING with the AI's elaboration of it  =/=  Actually fleshing out the idea yourself. The first one isn't thinking - it's moreso passivity and consumption of what you resonate with and reposting it. The second one is creating order in the mind; adding bricks to the wall of understanding.

I think AI can be used intelligently, in a way that ENHANCES thinking. But most people just want to get things done with as little time and effort as possible, eg. have their idea beautifully developed or just consume something that resonates with them already, but said by "someone else". I guess a distinction could be made here between survival (productivity, getting things done) and pursuit of virtue & actual growth (exerting effort to develop oneself).

To be clear: I think it's totally fine to pass on things that don't really grow you to an AI or a person. It's not that we have to do everything ourselves just because it's some kind of growth. Delegation is not inherently bad. But isn't organization of thought one of the things that deeply enrich the mind? And isn't having an enriched mind desirable?

Articulation is hard, but it matters. At least to me.  So let's not forgo it.

Edited 11 hours ago by Sincerity

[CARDOZZO]

Writing is such a brain training. Also, explaining things is a wonderful method to learn. Feynman is the GOAT.