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Writing Is Thinking

In an age when artificial intelligence can write for us, why should children still learn to write? Drawing on Pixar’s Wall-E , this article warns that technological convenience can make the mind flabby just as surely as comfort can weaken the body. Writing, rightly taught, is more than a school assignment: it is thinking, therapy, and protection against manipulation. Classical education insists on this difficult but liberating work because children who learn to write well learn to think clearly, live freely, and bring order and beauty into the world.

Dr. Andrew Selby photo By Dr. Andrew Selby

July 08, 2026

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Writing Is Thinking

In an age when artificial intelligence can write for us, why should children still learn to write? Drawing on Pixar’s Wall-E, this article warns that technological convenience can make the mind flabby just as surely as comfort can weaken the body. Writing, rightly taught, is more than a school assignment: it is thinking, therapy, and protection against manipulation. Classical education insists on this difficult but liberating work because children who learn to write well learn to think clearly, live freely, and bring order and beauty into the world.

Dr. Andrew Selby photo

Dr. Andrew Selby

Contributing Writer

Andrew is an upper school humanities educator at Trinity Classical Academy in Valencia, CA.

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