Writing is like exercise for the brain. Not all of us will write like Paul Graham, or anywhere even close to his level, but all of us can benefit from forcing o

Writing is like exercise for the brain. Not all of us will write like Paul Graham, or anywhere even close to his level, but all of us can benefit from forcing ourselves to think more carefully about our ideas, and there are not many better ways to do so than to attempt to express them in some systematic written form. Writing is also an iterative process. You write about something once and this causes you to focus upon what you are saying in ways that you had not done before. You re-visit the issue later and often derive more insights on the topic. You get comments and criticisms from others and this also causes you to examine your ideas more carefully. You also may find that, even if your ideas are reasonably well developed, your method of presenting them may be sub-standard. From experience, for example, you learn that it rarely if ever pays to take a cheap shot at someone and, when you get called on it, you learn to express yourself with more class the next time. So, you learn not only to express yourself intelligently but also in a manner that is appealing and that removes unnecessary barriers to understanding. Do it often enough and you will improve and potentially make an impact. But, even if you don't, you will be better off for the exercise. And that is the main point of this fine piece, a point well worth making.