A great title.

The purpose of writing isn’t to write, and it bugs me when AI tools are made precisely to replace that habit. Or to replace reading.

Jack wrote it well:

The problem with taking an AI-first approach to tasks is that it robs you of everything that you would have gained by doing the work yourself.

The problem is that writing isn’t the end, it’s the means to clear thought and understanding of complex interworking of the world. Until you’re forced to write something down, you can fool yourself into thinking you know the intricate details when you really don't.

Writing is a metamorphosis that turns vague abstractions into novel ideas, but you have to go through the writing process to connect the various points along the way.

Posner doesn’t like to waste time, so he sticks to a routine (he calls himself “rigid and Germanic”). But it is not just his regular habits that allow him to be as productive as he is: he has structured his life so as to free his mind from any distractions whatsoever. Charlene is in charge of all the domestic arrangements: Posner describes their relationship as the traditional Jewish one, in which the pasty-faced scholar husband stays home and studies while the wife attends to worldly activities. Until a few weeks ago, Posner had never used an A.T.M.—when he needed cash, he took it from Charlene’s wallet.

The world of judges is endlessly fascinating and I’m excited to continue learning about them. Here are more quotes about Posner.

Charlene does all the cooking except for a little meal that Posner makes every Friday night: for an appetizer, he puts together a plate of smoked salmon, chopped onion, capers, and lemon; for the main course, shrimp cocktail, he mixes a sauce that consists of mayonnaise, some cocktail sauce for color, a little sugar, a drop of Worcestershire sauce, and (the secret ingredient) two teaspoons of sherry. (He has never made this sauce for guests, because he worries that the proportions aren’t linear, and that it would go wrong if he attempted to make it for more than two people.)

I relate to the last line. There are certain dishes I will never cook for guests because I’ve only ever cooked it for two people.

Amen. Amen. Amen.

Half a dozen times a year, Posner and Charlene will have people over for dinner—often the Chicago economist William Landes, Posner’s best friend, and his wife—but, on the whole, Posner prefers to avoid social life. “People don’t say interesting things,” he says. “A lot of socializing is just dull—I’d rather read a book. I have a friend, an economist who’s Swedish, and he told me that Sweden has terrible television, so people there spend their time visiting each other. But that’s worse, because when you watch television you get some information, you even get some moral instruction, you learn to be nice to single mothers or what have you, but socializing, particularly family—well, that is deadly. When you’re just talking with your friends about trivia, what’s the point?”

(#judges)

If you are rich and are worth your salt, you will teach your sons that though they may have leisure, it is not to be spent in idleness; for wisely used leisure merely means that those who possess it, being free from the necessity of working for their livelihood, are all the more bound to carry on some kind of non-remunerative work in science, in letters, in art, in exploration, in historical research-work of the type we most need in this country, the successful carrying out of which reflects most honor upon the nation.

I miss that language from politicians and other public figures. Inspire me. Make me want to strive and achieve more.