Writing is a weird art form. In the case of other art forms, the receiver doesn’t need to have deep knowledge to appreciate the product. For example, you don’t need to understand color theory to know a painting is great. You don’t need to know the nuances of music, like ragas or sur, to find a singer’s voice beautiful. You don’t have to know how hard it is to pull off a magic trick to start doing a backflip with excitement. You don’t need to be an expert in car engineering to feel the engine’s growl in your chest. Deep knowledge of architecture is not necessary to find a Gothic church spectacular. But when it comes to words (I am specifically talking about long-form nonfiction), you need to have cared deeply about the topic to appreciate the writing even in a superficial way.

Why?

Let’s first explore why other art forms are easier to appreciate.

Writing doesn’t have sensory stimulation

Paintings and music stimulate our senses. Most art forms stimulate one or more of our five senses. Paintings stimulate our eyes. Music stimulates our ears. Movies stimulate both eyes and ears. Even if you don’t get the plot, you can still be in awe of the cinematography of a movie. The movement of attention in art forms that are not writing is like this: sensory stimulation → cognitive stimulation → sensory stimulation. It is a circle. One reinforces the other.

Writing doesn’t have this advantage. It doesn’t directly stimulate our senses. It is pure cognition.

Writing lacks distinct motor skills.

Other skills, like painting, designing a car or a building, performing surgery, or making physical things, require distinct motor prowess. Not many people have those skills. That’s why those skills are easier to appreciate. In countries with good literacy rates, almost everybody can read and write. Writing is not a distinct motor skill. It is a fundamental skill.

Pure cognition means it is more effortful to consume.

Writing is also more prone to mediocrity than other art forms because of its ubiquitous accessibility. Not everyone can paint or dance, but almost everyone knows how to use words to communicate.

The thing with ubiquitous skills is that, since they are general, they are harder to pay attention to. The things that lie in plain sight are always hidden. You think it’s so obvious that there’s no need to look at it. No, you don’t even think that. The thing that is all around becomes invisible to us. A kind of “what-is-water”fication of everything.

Since the skills are widely available, they become invisible to you, and you don’t poke and ask questions about them.

This happens with stand-up comedy as well. I’ve met a lot of people who think they are as funny as a comic. People don’t realize how hard it is to make strangers laugh on purpose for an extended period of time.

But words do have some advantages

They are easier to skim effectively. One can’t do that with videos. You have to know in advance at what point things relevant to you will come up.

Words stay put. There is a stillness to words, so you can focus, defocus, and come back again, and they will still be right there. You can’t do that with video. Pausing is not the same thing. When you pause, the content also stops moving, and when you play it, it starts moving again.

Reading requires far more involvement than viewing or listening. Its flaw is its strength: it is difficult to consume. That means there is more likely to be deeper engagement between the creator and the consumer. I had friends in school who were Harry Potter fans, and among those who had read the books before watching the movies, they always preferred the books. Long-form serious writing demands more from readers and brings their “self” into play.

Long-form, high-quality writing self-selects for people who substantively care about the topic.

There is a relatively higher probability of affecting the right individual, since it self-selects for a certain amount of seriousness in the receivers.

Why Words are not dead even after LLMs

You can't make someone see what they can't already see. Doesn't matter if you speak their language. Regardless of how precise the words you use. If you have ever argued on X or have witnessed it, you can relate to what I am saying. Or if you have parents and you try to make them see the limitations of their worldview, you realize it's almost impossible.

People think the right words, a skilled way of communication, can get them the desired results. They couldn't be further from the truth. If all the communication techniques and hacks have failed, there's a high probability the next method you are going to employ will also fail badly.

People have certain thoughts and beliefs, and most often, they don't realize they hold them. They can't put them into language, but they surreptitiously pop their heads out in the shape of hesitation they show when confronted with a specific situation, in the form of excitement that leaks out when they figure out something that seems trivial to others, in the expression of boredom that creeps up over their face while participating in a discussion they are supposed to find important.

It is as if their body knows what their conscious self doesn't. Their conscious self is like: "You are interested in maths. You should be a skillful quant and make a lot of money. I know it has been so hard so far, but keep going. You can do it." The body doesn't have words. It doesn't disapprove of your actions in language. It doesn't say, "No, you aren't interested in advanced maths. You will exhaust yourself if you keep doing it." No. The body speaks in concrete actions. It tires your brain out. It makes you seek relief in fleeting pleasures like scrolling social media, watching reaction videos, mukbang, reels, etc.

You don't even realize this truth that has been there all along. People who can see through the lies can't make you see, no matter how hard they try, because they are trying to communicate with a body using their mind. The tools of communication they are using are not effective. They have to communicate body to body instead of ego to ego.

That's what a good teacher does. A good teacher has to find an ideal student with whom they can communicate body to body.

When your body does not subtly flinch and show disapproval when their body reacts positively to something they have been told their whole life — either verbally or, even more tragically, bodily — is trivial, they start developing trust with you.

What people do wrong is that their whole life they have bodily disapproved of someone's desires, and now they try to fix it just by using some words without seeing what those desires really are. In these cases, the person himself loses touch with his desires and now doesn't even know what he truly wants.

That's why, instead of using a communication method, fix, or hack, you first have to have the right relationship with the person. A right relationship, more than words and hugs and listening, is the most vital thing to help them be who they truly are. You can't overturn a decade of wrong relationship with methods, regardless of how practical and actionable they seem. If a person's real self doesn't get prompted in your presence, then it doesn't. Period. Trying to correct it only worsens the problem even more. You need to allow them the freedom to choose who they listen to, observe, and learn from — freedom to run experiments to find out what is true to their core.

Writing and reading, when done from your own personal desire, are right relationships. Relationship is not just with people but also with art. That reveals your true self. Great art helps you find yourself.

Most relationships are saturated with regulation. Even well-meaning people regulate you.
Parents regulate you in the name of security. Friends regulate you in the name of belonging. Teachers regulate you in the name of success.

Nobody intends to suffocate your desire. But bodies are always signaling.

Writing, done with pure  and genuine desire, is one of the few places where your nervous system is not being calibrated by another nervous system.