Cal Newport's anti-brain rot rules

YouTube recommended me a segment from Cal Newport’s podcast lately with five rules for combating brain rot.[1] Here’s a quick summary with some comments, minus Newport’s overly nerdy procedures for doing these things. Read long-form writing every day. Not on a screen (except e-readers). Fiction or non-fiction. Ideally a mix. Start small if necessary, but aim for integrating “hard” books into your rotation at least semi-regularly. Write more, and don’t delegate writing to AI. As the cliche goes, “writing is thinking”. Even small writing tasks — such as an email — will help to prevent that skill from atrophying. Go for “thinking walks”. I think any walk without your phone (or with your phone tucked away in a bag) is fine; it doesn’t have to be a “thinking walk”. You’ll do that naturally anyway. And if not, it’s probably quite a meditative walk and good for you anyway. Leave your phone plugged in. Have a place in the home where you phone lives, so you have to get up and walk to it if you…