writing external thought reflection revise ideas memory

Writing makes ideas easier to revisit and revise

Writing puts thoughts into a form people can return to. They can slow down, reflect, add to, and revise ideas—steps that are harder when relying on memory alone.

Abandoned siege gear helped build Rhodes’s Colossus

After Demetrius Poliorketes gave up his year-long siege of Rhodes in 304 BC, the Rhodians sold the equipment he left behind. They used the money to build a statue of their sun god Helios, later counted among the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

A trench held off a much larger force

At the Battle of the Trench in Medina in 627, about 3,000 Muslim defenders used a trench across approaches open to cavalry. They held off a coalition of about 10,000 for two weeks, until it withdrew.

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writing external thought reflection revise ideas memory

Writing makes ideas easier to revisit and revise

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