Philosophy • • 1 min read
Muscle Memory and Mental Atrophy
It starts small. A pause before spelling rhythm. Letting the GPS run when you already know the way. That pause? It used to be fluency. Now it’s drift.
NC
Nino Chavez
Product Architect at commerce.com
Post 3 of 5 in Muscle Memory
I used to know my best friend’s phone number. I used to know directions without a GPS. I used to write longhand before I typed anything.
Now? I pause before spelling “rhythm.”
It’s not that I’m getting dumber. It’s that I stopped needing to remember. I offloaded all the friction.
But the friction is what built fluency. That hesitation now? It used to be instinct. I used to know things because I had to hold them. Now, I just swipe or ask.
And when you stop needing to remember, you stop learning to.