I very much enjoyed this chat I especially like the part when you got to writing and you had said the physicality of the paper and pen jogs the mind so true in so many fields of endeavor. I worry about the kids only using typing technology. they need more physical interaction with the world. Looking forward to more of your work.
Thank you! And yes, I share your concern... not just with writing but also with reading. I'm SURE that interacting with physical books (rather than just clicking on a screen) makes the information go in better.
I'm still watching, but something you said really struck me. You mentioned physically writing things out as a visceral experience that brings value to your work. For me, though, it’s quite the opposite. Physical writing is painful and difficult—it actually disrupts my thoughts. Instead, I find verbal processing much more effective. After all, humans have been storytelling this way almost since the beginning of time. I love exploring the different ways people create, process, and communicate, so thank you for giving me something new to mull over.
In all honestly, I'm the same. I can type really fast — and that makes if a far more frictionless way of getting words down. But when I need to THINK... often handwritten notes are better.
I’m so verbal that, for me, if I need to THINK, I do best doing it out loud (much to my family’s dismay). I feel like there’s a fascinating cognitive science or psychology research opportunity in there somewhere!
There is! And I constantly try out writing out loud — not just dialogue but also just sentences and ideas. Speech is essential to thinking, I believe...
Great chat Michael! I work with smart young people (in media!) who seem never to have read a book. "Albatross around his neck" came up the other day. It was a nonsense phrase to Gen Zs and millennials, who were laughing in the face of the boomer who deployed it, while Gen X lost our minds. Did I just happen to be young when books were both easily accessible and often the most instantly gratifying thing to be doing? Or would I always have read books and resisted TikTok? Nice to imagine but probably flattering myself. As for how fast things are changing - at 47 i'm basically Grandpa Simpson but even the 30-somethings are bamboozled by the kids now ...
Yep — the youngs are off on their journey... which I guess is always the way. I do know some of their generation who love reading, however: so maybe it is (and has always been) a personal thing, that just happened to go viral because there were many fewer drains on attention...
Appreciate the notion of reading books not being the all-time gold standard but rather an era-specific phenomenon.
Helps it to be less upsetting about my perception that everyone read when I was a kid and in my 20s and no one really reads anymore except me and a couple of people I’ve known all my life at the present time. Reading is considered a chore or boring or really a pain in the ass. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been told that it is a chore to have to read long texts. In a way it’s rude for me to send long text because “reading sucks.” Mind you these long texts might be 200 words long and often are precisely my effort to respond to a question asked by the individual. Much love and thought goes in into these long texts which are either not read (about which I am informed by the angry recipient of the rude lengthy text) along with the news of my rudeness. The people who complain about the long, rude texts, are also people who don’t read books or even short stories or magazines or articles or essays or opinion pieces like reading. Reading itself is considered unpleasant simply cannot relate, but it always breaks my heart. Perhaps it’s not that these folks are missing out and having a crap year experience then we readers perhaps they have an entirely different experience which is qualitatively different but perhaps not quantitatively inferior. Because they live in a different era
That might be a way of looking at it that makes it very very slightly less annoying ;-) I'm with you, of course. Will send comprehensive — hopefully not TOO long, but certainly task- or communication-appropriate emails, and will proof before sending. Won't stint myself on texts, either, if it requires more than five words to properly communicate.
And would always rather read a page of text to have something explain than endure a five minute video...
I was in disagreement with you about the whole binge watching thing, but it's an obvious thing of being completely different people living completely different lives! My wife and I look forward to sessions of tv watching, mostly weekend evenings. We love the cinema but the nearest decent size screen is 1.5 hrs away so it's something we haven't done in years. Yellowstone, Nautilus, Cross, walking dead various iterations, House and The Mentalist to name but a few in recent months. We are pretty solitary creatures aside from family so work/water cooler chat is not something we concern ourselves with.
My wife just asked me to stop being a boring twat.
Yes, we enjoy sitting back together for some telly too... but will tend to do one ep of something we're watching, then one of another show, so I guess a bit more of a non-streamer model, albeit one where shows drop several times a week ;-)
Fascinating chat Mike, watched on big screen and enjoyed
Frank
Excellent - thank you! Really glad you enjoyed :)
I very much enjoyed this chat I especially like the part when you got to writing and you had said the physicality of the paper and pen jogs the mind so true in so many fields of endeavor. I worry about the kids only using typing technology. they need more physical interaction with the world. Looking forward to more of your work.
Thank you! And yes, I share your concern... not just with writing but also with reading. I'm SURE that interacting with physical books (rather than just clicking on a screen) makes the information go in better.
I want so badly to have a more in depth conversation about this topic!
We should make it happen!
I'm still watching, but something you said really struck me. You mentioned physically writing things out as a visceral experience that brings value to your work. For me, though, it’s quite the opposite. Physical writing is painful and difficult—it actually disrupts my thoughts. Instead, I find verbal processing much more effective. After all, humans have been storytelling this way almost since the beginning of time. I love exploring the different ways people create, process, and communicate, so thank you for giving me something new to mull over.
In all honestly, I'm the same. I can type really fast — and that makes if a far more frictionless way of getting words down. But when I need to THINK... often handwritten notes are better.
I’m so verbal that, for me, if I need to THINK, I do best doing it out loud (much to my family’s dismay). I feel like there’s a fascinating cognitive science or psychology research opportunity in there somewhere!
There is! And I constantly try out writing out loud — not just dialogue but also just sentences and ideas. Speech is essential to thinking, I believe...
Just watching this… 👍🏻
Hope you enjoy!
Great chat Michael! I work with smart young people (in media!) who seem never to have read a book. "Albatross around his neck" came up the other day. It was a nonsense phrase to Gen Zs and millennials, who were laughing in the face of the boomer who deployed it, while Gen X lost our minds. Did I just happen to be young when books were both easily accessible and often the most instantly gratifying thing to be doing? Or would I always have read books and resisted TikTok? Nice to imagine but probably flattering myself. As for how fast things are changing - at 47 i'm basically Grandpa Simpson but even the 30-somethings are bamboozled by the kids now ...
Yep — the youngs are off on their journey... which I guess is always the way. I do know some of their generation who love reading, however: so maybe it is (and has always been) a personal thing, that just happened to go viral because there were many fewer drains on attention...
Appreciate the notion of reading books not being the all-time gold standard but rather an era-specific phenomenon.
Helps it to be less upsetting about my perception that everyone read when I was a kid and in my 20s and no one really reads anymore except me and a couple of people I’ve known all my life at the present time. Reading is considered a chore or boring or really a pain in the ass. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been told that it is a chore to have to read long texts. In a way it’s rude for me to send long text because “reading sucks.” Mind you these long texts might be 200 words long and often are precisely my effort to respond to a question asked by the individual. Much love and thought goes in into these long texts which are either not read (about which I am informed by the angry recipient of the rude lengthy text) along with the news of my rudeness. The people who complain about the long, rude texts, are also people who don’t read books or even short stories or magazines or articles or essays or opinion pieces like reading. Reading itself is considered unpleasant simply cannot relate, but it always breaks my heart. Perhaps it’s not that these folks are missing out and having a crap year experience then we readers perhaps they have an entirely different experience which is qualitatively different but perhaps not quantitatively inferior. Because they live in a different era
That might be a way of looking at it that makes it very very slightly less annoying ;-) I'm with you, of course. Will send comprehensive — hopefully not TOO long, but certainly task- or communication-appropriate emails, and will proof before sending. Won't stint myself on texts, either, if it requires more than five words to properly communicate.
And would always rather read a page of text to have something explain than endure a five minute video...
Pretty good interview I thought! Well done you😆
I was in disagreement with you about the whole binge watching thing, but it's an obvious thing of being completely different people living completely different lives! My wife and I look forward to sessions of tv watching, mostly weekend evenings. We love the cinema but the nearest decent size screen is 1.5 hrs away so it's something we haven't done in years. Yellowstone, Nautilus, Cross, walking dead various iterations, House and The Mentalist to name but a few in recent months. We are pretty solitary creatures aside from family so work/water cooler chat is not something we concern ourselves with.
My wife just asked me to stop being a boring twat.
Yes, we enjoy sitting back together for some telly too... but will tend to do one ep of something we're watching, then one of another show, so I guess a bit more of a non-streamer model, albeit one where shows drop several times a week ;-)
Great interview. I too wonder if this tech revolution will eventually greatly improve the life of humans or be our complete and total undoing.
I myself am not getting good vibes from it lately!
Anyway, great to hear from you.
Thank you! And yes, I have to admit I'm on the fence about much of it too...
As a somewhat sycophantic fan boy all I can say is
ABOUT TIME!😁
Ha, well wait until you've listened to me banging on... ;-)
Well you should never meet your heroes
Or listen to them banging on in interviews...😆