There's evidence that when you're studying something, taking notes by hand promotes long term retention of information better than typing them out. That is a ca

There's evidence that when you're studying something, taking notes by hand promotes long term retention of information better than typing them out. That is a case where the act of writing itself influences the thought process, and the use of one writing instrument or another influences it differently. It's wholly reasonable to believe that the choice of writing instrument may influence the thought process in other ways, too, and Stephenson has struck upon the instrument that works best for him. Edit: the other salient concept which comes to mind is Marshall McLuhan's idea that "the medium is the message." McLuhan definitely believed that if you go and say something over broadcast media vs e.g. printed matter, what you say comes out very differently. Both the content and interpretation are influenced by the medium. He would probably agree there is a difference between typing and handwriting, too. Edit2: there's at least one study which has found that handwriting engages more of the brain than typing does: https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/new-study-suggests-handwriting-engages-the-brain-more-than-typing-1.5132542?cache=yes https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/new-study-suggests-handwriting...