A Yamaguchi University study on Japanese senior citizens investigated functional memory and dementia in care centres. A key finding was that those with the highest mental acuity tended to be people who kept journals. They wrote down their daily lives and they laboured to do it. Forming thoughts into ideas in order to make a physical record of them, specifically by hand, is a highly valuable process.

The study also found a link between journalling and increased interest in friendships and activities. One of the scientists called dementia a disease “due to lack of utilization.” I think there’s so much to link here: looking forward to things, respecting and enjoying your daily life enough to record it, formulating thoughts into conversation with a notebook or person – it’s all related.

My grandma kept a diary for my entire life and long before. Just a few words each day, nothing flowery. I could imagine the day I was born including a brief note like, “Baby born – girl.” She was a positive, sharp-witted, stoic and long-living woman who loved puzzles. 

Conversely, a study of American students found a cognitive decline in users of ChatGPT. Participants who used it to write essays showed an inability to recall information they’d just generated (their brain hadn’t stored the knowledge) and a shocking reduction in mental ability over the four-month study. This is a use it or lose it situation, even at a young age.

Don’t get me wrong – I use AI every day. It’s a great tool, just dangerous when used mindlessly. Balance is the thing. I still Google things. I still fact-check. And I still write good copy faster than Gemini can.

You see, things that make our lives easier reduce our skills or prevent us from ever learning them. That’s an obvious fact: you’re not going to be skilled in growing vegetables if you buy them from the supermarket. It’s probably not worth most people’s time and investment to become skilled at growing vegetables.

But when the skill is thinking itself? Imagination, manifestation, investigation, exploration, invention, creation? Do we really believe our billionaire tech bro overlords that those things aren’t worth our time? Those things are the point of being alive.

Humans are living longer, but many are currently ensuring that they won’t be able to enjoy it. No one will marvel at how sharp they are. No one will ask for the secret of their longevity. They’ll BE vegetables, staring out of the window for years. Not lost in thought. Just lost.

Making art in our current world isn’t raging against the dying of the light or even raging against the machine. It’s what we were made to do. Hunting, fighting, fucking – sure. But also singing, dancing, painting. Showing each other things, telling stories and laughing.

We don’t need short cuts for the essence of living. Surely these are the things to savour, not cut short.