The modern formatting addiction in writing

I like this Tufte quote from https://www.edwardtufte.com/notebook/book-design-advice-and-...:

It is also notable that the Feynman lectures (3 volumes) write about all of physics in 1800 pages, using only 2 levels of hierarchical headings: chapters and A-level heads in the text. It also uses the methodology of sentences which then cumulate sequentially into paragraphs, rather than the grunts of bullet points. Undergraduate Caltech physics is very complicated material, but it didn’t require an elaborate hierarchy to organize.

I think about it a lot when reading markdown feature-driven writing or catching myself doing it.

> First write with lots of formatting. > Then figure out how to remove it. > Then put it back, if you want.

In the fifth grade, we were required to write an outline for our research project essay. Imagine my delight when writing the paper was as easy as copying the outline and adding a couple extra words.

That value of formatting into bulleted lists reminds me of the McPhee method of writing, which was shared last year on HN. He manipulates physical note cards to write, and I was manipulating digital ones.

Related: How Users Read on the Web, a classic of web usability research.

https://www.nngroup.com/articles/how-users-read-on-the-web/

I haven't seen a lot of excessive formatting in human-written text. These are all much more LLM-isms to my eye.

I wind up using this kind of formatting while writing in Google Docs. It's easier to jump around with the nav bar if the structure is legible to the app. But it does make the document less readable.

Summary * Use prose more

Seriously hate how young people write these days. Like the OP covers, every sentence is on a new line, emojis everywhere, and too many memes. Does that make me old?