I love how you reframe intelligence as more about habits and character - the willingness to look stupid by asking questions, the drive to really understand rather than just get the "right answer," and the patience to examine things from multiple angles. The contrast between stopping at the first proof versus finding multiple approaches is such a clear illustration of this. Your examples of the equals sign and the brick story are perfect reminders that even seemingly simple things contain depths when we're willing to look closer and think longer. It's a refreshing perspective on what real understanding requires.
My wife says she was the top of her class for Calculus and 10 years later couldn't tell you a single thing about it. She excelled at school because she was good at memorizing, not because she understood things well -- she had good hardware, but never learned to load in the software she really needed to be an expert. I guess it doesn't matter. Her field doesn't require Calculus. Makes me wonder if we're wasting people's time on subjects that don't actually matter instead of doubling down on the ones that will for them.
This piece really struck a chord. The idea that understanding isn’t just about intellect, but about honesty, bravery, and the willingness to wrestle with ideas over time, feels both timeless and urgent. In a world that often rewards speed over depth, your reminder to slow down, question sincerely, and think with integrity is a breath of fresh air. Thank you for putting words to something so foundational, yet so often overlooked.
Brilliant writing! This also reminds me of a quote from The Expulsion of the Other by Byung-Chul Han: ‘Information is simply available. Knowledge, in an emphatic sense, however, is a long and slow process.’
We live in a time where we have access to an endless flow of information, yet we rarely take the time to delve deeply into anything. We settle for ‘it is so’ rather than ‘is it so?’, gradually losing both the ability and the patience to refine knowledge into our own understanding or perspective.
Thank you! I think it's worthwhile for both -- some of the very best non-fiction I've read has unforgettable specifics (see John McPhee's book on Oranges, for example...)
That said, non-fiction often deals in abstractions and concepts, where this is maybe less important overall.
In true spirit of the article I thought about it and wrote about it in my own way. It helped me understand it more. It proved the words you write, to me.
Cultivating Depth in a Distracted World
In an age of rapid information, the true challenge is not just acquiring knowledge but thinking deeply about it. The ability to think—to truly engage with an idea—requires three key elements: the will to think, the time to think, and the energy to think. Without all three, intellectual progress is stifled, and clarity remains elusive.
The Will to Think
Thinking is not a passive act; it is an intentional pursuit. The will to think is the commitment to engage with difficult concepts, to seek understanding beyond surface-level interpretations. It requires the courage to confront complexity, the discipline to resist easy answers, and the humility to accept that learning is a continuous process.
The Time to Think
Modern life is filled with distractions, demanding our attention in countless ways. Yet, thinking cannot be rushed. Understanding a concept deeply means allowing ideas to marinate, questions to arise, and connections to form. Creating dedicated time for thinking—free from interruptions—fosters clarity and insight.
The Energy to Think
Just as physical energy is required for movement, mental energy is necessary for deep thinking. This means prioritizing sleep, nutrition, and mental well-being. Fatigue breeds complacency; alertness fuels curiosity. A well-rested mind is far better equipped to wrestle with complexity.
Intellectual Honesty: The First Rule of Science
'The first rule of science is that you do not fool yourself—and you are the easiest person to fool.' Intellectual rigor demands honesty, a willingness to challenge one’s own biases, and a readiness to accept when one is wrong. To think well, we must be vigilant against self-deception and remain open to evidence that contradicts our assumptions.
Writing Forces Clarity
If you cannot explain an idea clearly, you do not understand it well enough. Writing is a tool for refining thought, forcing us to articulate what we think we know. It exposes gaps in understanding and compels us to think more deeply. The process of writing is not just about recording thoughts—it is about shaping them.
The Power of Asking Questions
Never let intellectual insecurities prevent you from asking when you do not know. True learners embrace curiosity and discard the fear of appearing uninformed. Every expert was once a beginner, and every insightful thought begins with a question.
The Art of Slow Thinking
Speed is often mistaken for intelligence, but real understanding comes from patience. Read slow. Think slow. Dwell on questions rather than rushing to answers. The more time you spend with a problem, the clearer it becomes. Zoom in, then zoom in again, then once more. The deeper you go, the more profound the insights.
The Discipline of Focus
In a world of endless notifications and fleeting distractions, the ability to focus is a superpower. Cut out unwanted and unneeded distractions. The mind cannot hold multiple complex thoughts simultaneously—depth requires singular attention. The deeper the focus, the greater the clarity.
When in Doubt, Go Closer
Confusion is not a dead end but an invitation to look more closely. If something does not make sense, break it down further. Examine the details. Reconstruct the argument. Clarity emerges not from avoiding difficulty but from engaging with it at a granular level.
Conclusion: Thinking as a Discipline
Thinking well is a deliberate practice. It requires will, time, and energy. It demands honesty, clarity, patience, and focus. In a world driven by speed and superficiality, deep thinking remains a radical act—one that leads to genuine understanding, original thought, and intellectual growth. The challenge, then, is simple: cultivate the will to think, and the rest will follow.
Truly fantastic read. I feel like it has put into words many thoughts I’ve had for so long.
I would like to add that, even though I agree that first-hand experience is an amazing vehicle for understanding, it is inherently limited and should be taken with a grain of salt. Besides the concern that human senses can fool us, I think it is even more concerning that our own human experience is very limited in size, speeds, and time scales. We humans are unable to experience first-hand the very small, the very fast, and processes that take several millions of years to happen. Hence this empirical-data approach can sometimes limit us to exclusively think about concepts that are inherently tied to the human experience.
I would imagine that a being that is several orders of magnitude larger than us and lives over many millions of years instead of mere decades will be inclined to think about physical systems that operate on these scales.
Outstanding essay! For me, the difficulty lies in the abstractions that we create to fill gaps in our understanding - multiple dimensions for string theory, pure Darwinism principles to explain all existing forms, dark matter theory, etc.
I love how you reframe intelligence as more about habits and character - the willingness to look stupid by asking questions, the drive to really understand rather than just get the "right answer," and the patience to examine things from multiple angles. The contrast between stopping at the first proof versus finding multiple approaches is such a clear illustration of this. Your examples of the equals sign and the brick story are perfect reminders that even seemingly simple things contain depths when we're willing to look closer and think longer. It's a refreshing perspective on what real understanding requires.
Intelligence in practice is more about communication styles than learning styles.
My wife says she was the top of her class for Calculus and 10 years later couldn't tell you a single thing about it. She excelled at school because she was good at memorizing, not because she understood things well -- she had good hardware, but never learned to load in the software she really needed to be an expert. I guess it doesn't matter. Her field doesn't require Calculus. Makes me wonder if we're wasting people's time on subjects that don't actually matter instead of doubling down on the ones that will for them.
That she didn’t need calculus doesn’t mean that calculus isn’t needed.
The most observant and least indoctrinated of us already know what "woman excellence" in school consists of :).
This piece really struck a chord. The idea that understanding isn’t just about intellect, but about honesty, bravery, and the willingness to wrestle with ideas over time, feels both timeless and urgent. In a world that often rewards speed over depth, your reminder to slow down, question sincerely, and think with integrity is a breath of fresh air. Thank you for putting words to something so foundational, yet so often overlooked.
Brilliant writing! This also reminds me of a quote from The Expulsion of the Other by Byung-Chul Han: ‘Information is simply available. Knowledge, in an emphatic sense, however, is a long and slow process.’
We live in a time where we have access to an endless flow of information, yet we rarely take the time to delve deeply into anything. We settle for ‘it is so’ rather than ‘is it so?’, gradually losing both the ability and the patience to refine knowledge into our own understanding or perspective.
"People who have not experienced the thing are unlikely to be generating truth. More likely, they’re resurfacing cached thoughts and narratives."
Seems like LLMs. 🙂
That was the case but we're slowly moving away from that paradigm: https://nonint.com/2024/06/03/general-intelligence-2024/
Hi Nabeel,
Enjoyed this!
Question: Why is going closer only good fiction writing advice? How is it different with non-fiction?
Thank you! I think it's worthwhile for both -- some of the very best non-fiction I've read has unforgettable specifics (see John McPhee's book on Oranges, for example...)
That said, non-fiction often deals in abstractions and concepts, where this is maybe less important overall.
Thank you so much for mentioning Oranges!
Brilliant Nabeel! Thank you. 👏
Thank you Nabeel,
In true spirit of the article I thought about it and wrote about it in my own way. It helped me understand it more. It proved the words you write, to me.
Cultivating Depth in a Distracted World
In an age of rapid information, the true challenge is not just acquiring knowledge but thinking deeply about it. The ability to think—to truly engage with an idea—requires three key elements: the will to think, the time to think, and the energy to think. Without all three, intellectual progress is stifled, and clarity remains elusive.
The Will to Think
Thinking is not a passive act; it is an intentional pursuit. The will to think is the commitment to engage with difficult concepts, to seek understanding beyond surface-level interpretations. It requires the courage to confront complexity, the discipline to resist easy answers, and the humility to accept that learning is a continuous process.
The Time to Think
Modern life is filled with distractions, demanding our attention in countless ways. Yet, thinking cannot be rushed. Understanding a concept deeply means allowing ideas to marinate, questions to arise, and connections to form. Creating dedicated time for thinking—free from interruptions—fosters clarity and insight.
The Energy to Think
Just as physical energy is required for movement, mental energy is necessary for deep thinking. This means prioritizing sleep, nutrition, and mental well-being. Fatigue breeds complacency; alertness fuels curiosity. A well-rested mind is far better equipped to wrestle with complexity.
Intellectual Honesty: The First Rule of Science
'The first rule of science is that you do not fool yourself—and you are the easiest person to fool.' Intellectual rigor demands honesty, a willingness to challenge one’s own biases, and a readiness to accept when one is wrong. To think well, we must be vigilant against self-deception and remain open to evidence that contradicts our assumptions.
Writing Forces Clarity
If you cannot explain an idea clearly, you do not understand it well enough. Writing is a tool for refining thought, forcing us to articulate what we think we know. It exposes gaps in understanding and compels us to think more deeply. The process of writing is not just about recording thoughts—it is about shaping them.
The Power of Asking Questions
Never let intellectual insecurities prevent you from asking when you do not know. True learners embrace curiosity and discard the fear of appearing uninformed. Every expert was once a beginner, and every insightful thought begins with a question.
The Art of Slow Thinking
Speed is often mistaken for intelligence, but real understanding comes from patience. Read slow. Think slow. Dwell on questions rather than rushing to answers. The more time you spend with a problem, the clearer it becomes. Zoom in, then zoom in again, then once more. The deeper you go, the more profound the insights.
The Discipline of Focus
In a world of endless notifications and fleeting distractions, the ability to focus is a superpower. Cut out unwanted and unneeded distractions. The mind cannot hold multiple complex thoughts simultaneously—depth requires singular attention. The deeper the focus, the greater the clarity.
When in Doubt, Go Closer
Confusion is not a dead end but an invitation to look more closely. If something does not make sense, break it down further. Examine the details. Reconstruct the argument. Clarity emerges not from avoiding difficulty but from engaging with it at a granular level.
Conclusion: Thinking as a Discipline
Thinking well is a deliberate practice. It requires will, time, and energy. It demands honesty, clarity, patience, and focus. In a world driven by speed and superficiality, deep thinking remains a radical act—one that leads to genuine understanding, original thought, and intellectual growth. The challenge, then, is simple: cultivate the will to think, and the rest will follow.
I love this essay so much. Thanks for writing this.
Phenomenal! Thank you so much!
Truly fantastic read. I feel like it has put into words many thoughts I’ve had for so long.
I would like to add that, even though I agree that first-hand experience is an amazing vehicle for understanding, it is inherently limited and should be taken with a grain of salt. Besides the concern that human senses can fool us, I think it is even more concerning that our own human experience is very limited in size, speeds, and time scales. We humans are unable to experience first-hand the very small, the very fast, and processes that take several millions of years to happen. Hence this empirical-data approach can sometimes limit us to exclusively think about concepts that are inherently tied to the human experience.
I would imagine that a being that is several orders of magnitude larger than us and lives over many millions of years instead of mere decades will be inclined to think about physical systems that operate on these scales.
so.....Splunk Indexing
wow
What a nice, warm and welcoming and thoughtful essay. Will check Kolmogorov‘s Essay on the equal sign.. I love stuff like this.
Thank you!
Brilliant. Sharing parts of this with every new semester for my doctoral students.
Outstanding essay! For me, the difficulty lies in the abstractions that we create to fill gaps in our understanding - multiple dimensions for string theory, pure Darwinism principles to explain all existing forms, dark matter theory, etc.
If you really want to understand a topic, try to explain it to someone else. You soon realize what parts you haven’t yet grasped.