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I am 100% the same. People often claim that taking notes by hand, because it is slow, forces you to interpret and condense what you are learning into a more co

I am 100% the same. People often claim that taking notes by hand, because it is slow, forces you to interpret and condense what you are learning into a more compact representation, and therefore understand it better. That has never been the case for me -- while I'm busy doing that thinking, I missed the last 3 sentences from the lecturer, and then am struggling to catch up, and when I finally figure out what they're explaining again, there's no more time to write it down. But I can type faster than lecturers speak. And obviously you don't take notes verbatim either, just the gist of a sentence. Then after the seminar is over, I can go over the notes at my own pace to build my understanding. Details that didn't seem that relevant during the seminar, I suddenly realize are key. I really don't understand why people don't talk about this advantage more.

freilanzer 2y ago
> People often claim that taking notes by hand, because it is slow, forces you to interpret and condense what you are learning into a more compact representation, and therefore understand it better. > while I'm busy doing that thinking, I missed the last 3 sentences from the lecturer That's not the same kind of note-taking. The first is writing for understanding, the second is taking quick notes to avoid missing anything while the lecturer is talking.
- crazygringo 2y ago
  No, I'm saying when I missed the last three sentences, now I don't even understand the lecture anymore. There's a variable written on the board and I don't know what it represents. And then by the time I figure it out, I haven't understood a bunch of previous points that depended on knowing what the variable was.
  - freilanzer 2y ago
    That's exactly the second kind of quick note taking I was talking about.
    - crazygringo 2y ago
      OK, but you can't do both at the same time. That's my point. And the "quick" version is not what people claim provides any benefits of understanding.

freilanzer 2y ago

> People often claim that taking notes by hand, because it is slow, forces you to interpret and condense what you are learning into a more compact representation, and therefore understand it better. > while I'm busy doing that thinking, I missed the last 3 sentences from the lecturer That's not the same kind of note-taking. The first is writing for understanding, the second is taking quick notes to avoid missing anything while the lecturer is talking.

crazygringo 2y ago
No, I'm saying when I missed the last three sentences, now I don't even understand the lecture anymore. There's a variable written on the board and I don't know what it represents. And then by the time I figure it out, I haven't understood a bunch of previous points that depended on knowing what the variable was.
- freilanzer 2y ago
  That's exactly the second kind of quick note taking I was talking about.
  - crazygringo 2y ago
    OK, but you can't do both at the same time. That's my point. And the "quick" version is not what people claim provides any benefits of understanding.