Ever since I got an iPad with a digital pen around eight years ago, I have continuously been trying to stay away from paper. I thought paper was old-fashioned and outdated. They take up a lot of space, are heavy, and cannot be organized easily without tools like folders. Even when they can, they cannot be nested infinitely and very logically like I can with files on a computer. Moreover, I can do everything I can do on paper on an iPad and more. More importantly, I think technology is the future so why should I use something that is literally thousands of years old, and seemingly used only by old people who don’t understand new technology, when I can use an iPad that is only a few decades old?

That was what I used to think until I restarted using paper a few weeks ago by accident. I had forgotten to bring my iPad to the library one day, so I just stole some paper from the printer and borrowed a pen from a friend to work on some math problems.

At the end of the day, I discovered that for some reason my mental process was much clearer, and I solved more difficult problems than I used to. So I began to print out the lecture notes I use, and problem sheets. This method worked perfectly well so far.

I wondered why this was the case and came up with three reasons: less mental overhead, using paper is like using multiple screens and eliminating the false sense of progress.

Less Mental Overhead

Our mental capacity, despite what we wish and might sometimes feel, is limited, so we would want to minimize the mental overhead to maximize efficiency. Mental overheads are basically things that don’t really contribute to the task at hand, but are necessary to be mentally aware of, such as keeping computers charged, making sure WiFi is connected, etc.

Mental overhead is large when using a computer. You can imagine how many things need to work correctly to keep a computer working smoothly, like the apps you are in, the apps you have open, how many tabs are opened and if they are taking up too much RAM, slowing down the computer. Also, when writing on an iPad, I need to make sure that my hand doesn’t accidentally activate the touchscreen when I am writing by placing my palm directly and clearly on the screen to activate palm rejection. Keeping track of them means that I need to make sure that I don’t accidentally break these things. Also, I find that subconsciously, when things inevitably go wrong, I would have to spend quite some time fixing those problems. I also tend to get distracted by other things on the computer when I am fixing it.

But when using paper, I’d have to keep track of a lot less things. There is no way a paper can fail except with predictable and understandable physical damage.

I also suspect that multiple stacks of paper are easier to track mentally than multiple opened browser windows because we have dedicated brain circuits to track physical objects but we have to use the much slower, costly and error-prone conscious process to keep track of files open on a computer.

Basically Multiple Monitors on Steroids

If you are a tech nerd, you know how pleasant it is to have multiple monitors. You can keep your reference on one screen while working on another screen without having to juggle multiple windows.

You can achieve the same functionality with paper as with an extra monitor if you are primarily working with text, like me, who studies maths. Moreover, you can have three, four or however many pieces of paper spread out in front of you, instead of being limited to just a few due to cost concerns.

Eliminating False Sense of Progress

When I use computers, sometimes I like to click around and do random things when I get stuck on a task. For example, one of my favourite things to do on a computer is to upgrade software. I would feel like I have achieved something even though in reality I haven’t. Other illusions include arranging my windows, changing keyboard and mouse settings, tinkering with network settings to make the internet faster, and just clicking around aimlessly. These things keep me busy and fool me into thinking I am being productive even when I am not.

But, if I am using paper, there is nothing to do other than work with the content on the paper. I can keep good track of my progress and not be fooled by this illusion.

It’s a Tradeoff Afterall

Paper is good for certain things, but certainly not for all things. I still prefer to type on a computer than write essays on paper because typing is just so much faster. There are still, obviously, many things that cannot be done on paper, such as coding.

But, for what it is good at, being a medium for text, it undoubtedly is better than any other means of conveying text, even including e-readers.

After all, technology is just a tool. As science and engineering advance, we get better and more powerful technology like better screens, faster internet connection and faster computation. But they are only better in the sense that they can solve more problems or problems that can’t be solved by old technology. That is, they are more useful tools for a wide variety of purposes. Nevertheless, a tool is still a tool, and tools should be used only when there is a need for it, and the tool most fit for a purpose should be used. So, when the purpose is specialized, and the scope is limited, such as understanding text, I think paper is a perfect tool, and better than any other newer technology we have.