Jordan Peterson on why writing is the most powerful skill you can learn:
1. writing and thinking are the same thing. there is no difference between them. when you learn to write clearly you are not learning to express thoughts you already have. you are learning to have the thoughts in the first place.
2. universities never tell students why they are writing. the answer they get is you need the grade. the real answer is you need to learn to think. because thinking is what makes you act effectively in the world and win the battles you choose to fight.
3. if you can think, speak, and write you are absolutely dangerous. people give you money. they give you opportunities. you have influence. peterson says nothing can get in your way. that is what you are at university for.
4. the most articulate person in the room always wins the argument. peterson has watched staggeringly successful people his whole life. the common thread: you do not want to argue with them. not because they are aggressive. because their points are organized and yours probably aren't.
5. someone who cannot write has done almost everything wrong before they start. wrong words, wrong sentences, wrong paragraph order, wrong structure, wrong conclusion. peterson says marking a bad essay is agony because the answer to what did i do wrong is essentially everything.