Talk Before Text Why writing follows dialogue not the other way round

I recently read a thoughtful piece by Rod Naquin that really resonated with me. His point is simple. We think by talking. Writing comes later. Text is downstream of conversation.

That fits closely with how I’ve come to see things. We don’t form ideas in isolation and then express them. We work them out together, in conversation. If that upstream work is missing, the writing that follows is thin.

This feels even more relevant now. AI can generate fluent text instantly, but it cannot replace the human experience of thinking things through together.

If you are interested in dialogue in education, this is well worth a read:
https://rodjnaquin.substack.com/p/why-talk-is-where-it-happens

We are dialogic creatures, shaped by conversation before we ever put pen to paper.

The written word, logical reasoning, even scientific inquiry—all of these emerge from something more primary and mysterious: the human capacity for dialogue.

When we ignore this hierarchy, when we privilege text over talk, we’re building our educational house on sand.

Credit: Rod Naquin

Midjourney

Public Domain