In Praise of Doodles

"I'm also a pretty good doodler. See, folks don't know that about me."

In 1937, unfocused drawings got a name: doodles.¹ Before then, the word “doodle” referred to “a silly or foolish fellow; a noodle.”²

Much like its antiquated meaning, “doodle” carries with it connotations of silliness. Doodling is useless, we were told, merely aimless scribbling. Clearly, that assumption was wrong.

Doodling can be incredibly useful! Resea…