Should you stop using your muscles just because you can get everything delivered to your door?
Silly question? Maybe. We see where it gets some people.
But what if we’re about to ask the same thing about our minds?
A recent MIT study points to something we already intuitively know, using AI for everything may have a “dumbing” effect on the brain. (The article, The original study abstract)
“If you don’t use it – you lose it.”
That’s biology. And it applies to the brain too. Just like it applies to your bicep or stomach.
Every time I speak with people who don’t read much, who don’t write or practice expressing their thoughts clearly, I feel the difference. It's not about intelligence. It’s about clarity, nuance, depth. It’s a quality of thinking.
You’ve probably felt it too.
That moment when a great speaker articulates something, and suddenly… you understand yourself better. That’s the magic of clear, developed, nuanced thinking.
Now imagine a generation that outsources all of that.
Outsources thinking like some outsource their fitness. Or purpose. Or presence.
We still teach kids math even though calculators have been around for over a century. Why?
Because doing the work develops the person.
What kind of person develops with no reasoning skills?
We train our minds not just to solve equations but to:
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Think clearly
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Make decisions
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Recognize patterns
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Strategize
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Connect dots
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Question
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Understand meaning
AI can help, sure. I use ChatGPT to clean up my grammar, refine my structure, suggest better flow. But the first draft? The thinking? The ideas? That’s mine. Everything's here is an ingrained part of me.
And that matters.
I’m not romanticizing cave drawings. I am saying, don’t outsource the parts of life that make you… you.
Reading. Writing. Reasoning.
These are not obsolete. They’re the foundations of YOUR depth, meaning, and creativity.
Research shows, the best writers, are the best readers. You can't chatGPT the depth of a book.
So here’s the question I’m sitting with, and maybe you will too,
If we stop seeking our own answers, if we hand off the thinking, the reflecting, the creating... who do we become?
