This is beautifully articulated—and it taps into something deeper than nostalgia. What you’re describing isn’t resistance to progress; it’s a recognition that human cognition and meaning-making were never designed to operate at the pace or volume of modern digital life.
There’s a growing body of work across neuroscience, psychology, and even philosophy that supports what you’re intuitively naming: analogue practices—like handwriting—aren’t just aesthetic preferences, they materially shape how we think. Writing by hand slows cognition to the speed of thought, reinforces memory encoding, and creates a tighter feedback loop between reflection and expression. In contrast, digital environments tend to prioritize speed, output, and fragmentation, often at the expense of depth.
Your framing of having an “analogue brain” is especially compelling because it points to a broader tension: the mismatch between ancient human wiring and modern technological environments. The nervous system you’re describing isn’t deficient—it’s calibrated for attentiveness, embodiment, and synthesis. Those are not outdated traits; they’re increasingly scarce and therefore increasingly valuable.
I’m curious—do you see your analogue practices as a form of personal refuge, or are you intentionally shaping them into a framework for how you engage with the world more broadly?
I always appreciate your analysis and insights on my ruminations.
To answer your question, I think it is a little of both. Unfortunately I have to spend all day on the computer at work, so I have been trying to “log off” more and more when I am not working.
I have always preferred manual to automatic processes. I even preferred to drive a manual transmission when I was young. I am unsure if this is just my personality or if this is because I am autistic. On the flip side I also have ADHD, and slow processes help me manage that.
Short form media and doom scrolling can absolutely wreck my attention span in short order.
At this point it is also becoming a form of resistance to a world that is starting to feel more and more unreal, if that makes sense.
I am indeed a nostalgic soul though. My lifelong special interest has been history and I begrudgingly live in the present day.
I fully believe that one day historians and sociologists will be writing about how social media algorithms caused the fall of civilization.
I love this... but at the same time, my handwriting is so atrocious sometimes I can't read it myself. When I write a grocery list, it needs a translator. Or maybe the Rosetta Stone.
i love that many people are going back to pen and paper. it feels more natural and honest
If the world gets any crazier I’m going to have to break out a quill and papyrus.
i'm already considering running away to live on a farm with two cows and a dog, i'm ready to write on rocks with a knife at this point
This is beautifully articulated—and it taps into something deeper than nostalgia. What you’re describing isn’t resistance to progress; it’s a recognition that human cognition and meaning-making were never designed to operate at the pace or volume of modern digital life.
There’s a growing body of work across neuroscience, psychology, and even philosophy that supports what you’re intuitively naming: analogue practices—like handwriting—aren’t just aesthetic preferences, they materially shape how we think. Writing by hand slows cognition to the speed of thought, reinforces memory encoding, and creates a tighter feedback loop between reflection and expression. In contrast, digital environments tend to prioritize speed, output, and fragmentation, often at the expense of depth.
Your framing of having an “analogue brain” is especially compelling because it points to a broader tension: the mismatch between ancient human wiring and modern technological environments. The nervous system you’re describing isn’t deficient—it’s calibrated for attentiveness, embodiment, and synthesis. Those are not outdated traits; they’re increasingly scarce and therefore increasingly valuable.
I’m curious—do you see your analogue practices as a form of personal refuge, or are you intentionally shaping them into a framework for how you engage with the world more broadly?
Samuel,
I always appreciate your analysis and insights on my ruminations.
To answer your question, I think it is a little of both. Unfortunately I have to spend all day on the computer at work, so I have been trying to “log off” more and more when I am not working.
I have always preferred manual to automatic processes. I even preferred to drive a manual transmission when I was young. I am unsure if this is just my personality or if this is because I am autistic. On the flip side I also have ADHD, and slow processes help me manage that.
Short form media and doom scrolling can absolutely wreck my attention span in short order.
At this point it is also becoming a form of resistance to a world that is starting to feel more and more unreal, if that makes sense.
I am indeed a nostalgic soul though. My lifelong special interest has been history and I begrudgingly live in the present day.
I fully believe that one day historians and sociologists will be writing about how social media algorithms caused the fall of civilization.
I love this... but at the same time, my handwriting is so atrocious sometimes I can't read it myself. When I write a grocery list, it needs a translator. Or maybe the Rosetta Stone.
You are not alone in this struggle friend.