To Write or Not to Write… That is the Question
A philosophical discussion of internal vs external validation
Regardless of whether you are new to this site, have a massive following, or have written bestsellers, all of us struggle at times to find meaning through our writing.*
QUESTION: if people don’t read my writing what is the point?
One of my favorite writers, (who had 5 K followers at the time), once wrote a comment to , (now over 12 K followers):
Because I don’t see the point of writing unless it’s read, I am wondering if logic dictates that I should quit writing.
In response, a talented newbie, , wrote back, trying to encourage him to keep writing:
Hi Tom. It is SO frustrating to write and love what we wrote and put it out there…and feel like it has disappeared!
Yet. I mean, you just know I’m going to quote “if a tree falls in a forest and no one hears it…” at you, right?
I started to write a brief response to reassure Denise that her writing had meaning — regardless of whether it seemed to have disappeared — then realized it was time to take on the question “To write or not to write?” in more depth.
ANSWER: It’s a paradox.
From The Inner Game of Tennis:
“The player of the inner game comes to value the art of relaxed concentration above all other skills; he discovers a true basis for self-confidence; and he learns that the secret to winning any game lies in not trying too hard.” — Tim Gallwey
We all want to win: have a larger readership, get published in Medium’s sponsored publications, or, better yet, real magazines, make more money, and maybe even become famous.
But the trying is counterproductive: feeling more pressure to write something that gets curated or goes viral, more disappointment when it doesn’t, more boredom in slogging on through all research and editing, more embarrassment for trying to promote your work, and more fear of rejection.
And that leads to more losing: the less we are focused in the present (on the pure act of writing), the worse our writing will be, which guarantees that fewer people will want to read our work.
Let’s return to the philosophical thought experiment “if a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it, did it make a sound?
Based on the frustration we feel when our work goes unnoticed, most of us react as if the answer is no.
Remember, it’s a question.
The tree falling in the forest conundrum touches on both Buddhism and quantum physics as it explores the very nature of reality and the inseparability of event and observer.
Because of this, our search for true wisdom will leads us in two completely different directions: the sound of one hand typing, and Schrödinger’s cat writing a story.
MEDITATION 1: The sound of one hand typing
Anything we do in response to the action of writing a story — smile, laugh, cry, exhale, scream, fart, etc. — is the same as hearing the tree fall in the forest, because...
We are the tree, the forest and the observer, all at the same time.™
The saying does not ask “if a tree falls in a forest and less than an arbitrarily desired number of people — determined by the tree’s current popularity and mood at the time (was the tree in a particularly needy place in its life at the moment it fell?) — hear it, did it make a sound?”
Once we have reacted to our writing, the story exists, and it is irrelevant if no one else reads the story.
Therefore, we have absolute proof and certainty that our writing does matter, regardless of who else reads it.
However…
MEDITATION 2: Schrödinger’s cat writes a story
If Schrödinger’s cat is in a sealed space capsule, it could also be writing a story, which creates endless uncertainties and possibilities.
As the cat writes, there is uncertainty — will others read it or not?
After the cat hits publish, there is the same uncertainty.
The only data points we have — applause and money — represent an extremely short time frame, far too narrow a perspective to determine with certainty if the cat’s writing is meaningless (although it might be terrible and full of typos, because how could a cat’s paws accurately hit a keyboard while floating in space with no gravity? I will leave those scientific considerations to the engineers out there who may or may not be reading this).
Still, there is uncertainty over the meaning of meaning. What if only one person read the cat’s story, but it changed their life? What if millions discovered the story after the cat died? What if the story became a family treasure for the cat’s children? Is there not meaning in all of these possible outcomes — meaning that would not exist if the cat had not written the story?
But what if the cat chooses not to write because of a short term lack of positive feedback in the exact way the cat desires?
What happens if the one person reading the cat’s story doesn’t smile at the exact same time they brush past a stranger who’s having a bad day?
What happens if the stranger who now feels insulted, yells in anger at a dog lying in front of him on a sidewalk? (And why is it always those damn lazy dogs?)
What happens if the dog get scared and runs into the street?
What happens if the driver of a gas tanker avoids the dog only to crash into a radio station, then burst into flames and explode?
What happens if the radio announcer in the building hears the explosion and claims it is a sneak attack by the Russkies?
What happens if the SVR (successor to the KGB) hears the radio broadcast and decides it‘s an excuse by the Americanskis to launch the dreaded first strike, so they tell Putin to be on extra red alert to fire his missiles?
And then President Trump tweets “push the button” to his personal assistant before any discussion can take place?
The world comes to an end because a cat decided not to write a story.
Does anyone want that on their conscience?
I leave you to ponder one last bit of wisdom from that immortal philosopher Yoda: “write or do not, hand outs none there are.”
If you enjoyed this, you’ll probably like these other articles that address the ultimate question of internal versus external validation.
Here’s to better writing.
*The problems arise when we look for external validation (rewards, compliments and responses from other people, which are outside of our control), instead of focusing on internal validation (goals, actions and attitudes within our control).
Every sports psychologist will tell you that focusing on external validation will cause you to perform at less than optimal levels.
On the other hand, if we focus on achieving internal goals, we have a much higher probability of achieving peak performance, which ironically creates a higher probability of achieving more external rewards.
