Everything in Ink
Maybe it would be a good idea to summarize (in my own words unfortunately) the talk I went to couple weeks ago, delivered by Caroline Welles:
Writing in pencil, or to generalize, in any kind of erasable pen, allows us to go back and fix the problem. While the end result would be a flawless, immaculate solution (in this case we were talking about solving math problems or publishing in a scientific journal), writing in pencil creates a mindset that we have to be perfect, and that we ought not to display that imperfection – đẹp khoe xấu che maybe? That wouldn't be so human at all. The fact that we all have some sort of flaws makes us all some sort of beautiful. By writing in ink, we allow ourselves to be vulnarable, but also be courageous and mature. Writing in ink makes us more human.
– To rephrase Caroline's lecture, 2020.
It struck me that how true this could be. And I would like to add on to that. Personally, I prefer writing (and drawing) in ink. The mistakes I made, I can still see it there, and on which later can reflect to learn. We are all learning, except when it comes to live-or-death situations, there are always rooms for mistakes, especially when it's just you. To reiterate, no one else can se my notes, then why do I have to hide the mistake from myself? When I write down my notes, instead of erasing them out, why don't I just keep it, make a slight cross indicating that it's was wrong, and move on if necessary? No one can judge me, and what matters even if they can (though I highly suggest jotting down valuable constructive feedback). Totally doable.
Over time, I have learnt to write with fewer mistakes (or at least I know I don't have to cross as much anymore).
It is a shame, and somewhat a hypocritical act, that now I move almost entirely to digital platform of notetaking. Such medium provides not only a way to fix your previous mistakes, but also fixing it in a way that is so effortless and you might not even consciously think about it. Imagine you are writing an essay, and there was a typo, the Word processor immediately recognizes and you would definitely go back and fix it. Who wouldn't, I would. Even though it might be a good thing to fix the spellings, but I no longer think about it – it's done. It gives me a low sense of self-learning, and that really troubles me.
Well of course, we have to go digital soon anyway, it would be hard to keep physical notes at all time, so I commited to a simple solution: Make notes (e.g., comments on Google Docs) whenever possible. Notes are the only thing that reminds you about a specific bit of information that you would care in the future. Without that I would just drown myself in my own writing, my own knowledge, and that's, for me, even worse than not taking enough notes in classes.