[ModernMech]

You can't separate the tools from the craft. Practical disciplines aren't just about doing things but also doing them well. The title of the piece was "take better notes, by hand" so you know, the tools I think are relevent. And come to mention it, the "by hand" part needs some attention too, because one complaint I often hear is that typing is less fatiguing than writing longhand. Ergonomics plays a big role here -- you're not going to write anything at all if you get cramped up. So yeah, I think that the tools are wholly relevent to the idea of taking better notes.

Generally people don't write with diarrhea for a good reason. I think anyone suggesting positive results would be suspect.

[ModernMech]

> You will to explain to me how the concise note I scribbled a few moments ago would have been improved if I'd written it on a particular type of paper, using a particular type of pen and a particular shade of ink. Because on the face of it, your proposition is very silly.

Sure, if the type of paper was for instance toilet paper, it won't last for a long time. Usually with note taking the intent is to keep the notes for later, so if you want to archive your concise note for say 30 years, you might choose to write on something more durable.