(article) Signature moves: are we losing the ability to write by hand?

[catbert]

We are far more likely to use our hands to type or swipe than pick up a pen. But in the process we are in danger of losing cognitive skills, sensory experience – and a connection to history
By Christine Rosen

https://www.theguardian.com/news/202...-write-by-hand

[FredRydr]

That’s one of the more in-depth articles about this issue I’ve read.

Edited to add: The article is an extract from the author's new book, The Extinction of Experience: Reclaiming Our Humanity in a Digital World. It looks like I'm ordering another book to add to my pile of reading!

[penwash]

The article is an extract from the author's new book, The Extinction of Experience: Reclaiming Our Humanity in a Digital World. It looks like I'm ordering another book to add to my pile of reading!

I assume the book to be a printed copy of a handwritten original.

(I joke. As someone who works in IT, only sketching tethered me to my pens and paper, so I applaud the author for calling this out).

[FredRydr]

I assume the book to be a printed copy of a handwritten original.

(I joke. As someone who works in IT, only sketching tethered me to my pens and paper, so I applaud the author for calling this out).

Well, it sure isn't digital! I even opted for hardcover.

[Niner]

The only negative Amazon review of the book states, in part, " I don't disagree with her conclusions, but the writing leaves little to be desired."

Hmm. I believe that's what the youngsters call LOL.

[robert.bradley.5]

I just read this article. It makes a few points worth thinking about.

[LizEF]

At one point, the author says:

We communicate more but with less physical effort...

I am not at all convinced of this. Message, word, or character count is not an accurate measure of communication. In my experience, people actually communicate less in the digital world. What was once considered courtesy or "building a relationship" is now considered a waste of time. Business emails are often so poorly written that it takes a half-a-dozen of them to communicate what one well-composed sentence could have managed. In personal communication, I find hand-written letters convey infinitely more than all other forms of communication I've experienced (except in-person conversation and perhaps some phone calls). The fact is that while we technically can communicate just as personally and even intimately (not that kind of intimate) via digital means, we don't. I have tried to, but no one else seems to want to take the time. In my experience, the only people willing to take the time are the same people who enjoy exchanging handwritten letters.

So, we may send more messages, more words, more characters, even more images, but I'm not convinced we communicate more.

[catbert]

At one point, the author says:

We communicate more but with less physical effort...

I am not at all convinced of this. Message, word, or character count is not an accurate measure of communication. In my experience, people actually communicate less in the digital world. What was once considered courtesy or "building a relationship" is now considered a waste of time. Business emails are often so poorly written that it takes a half-a-dozen of them to communicate what one well-composed sentence could have managed. In personal communication, I find hand-written letters convey infinitely more than all other forms of communication I've experienced (except in-person conversation and perhaps some phone calls). The fact is that while we technically can communicate just as personally and even intimately (not that kind of intimate) via digital means, we don't. I have tried to, but no one else seems to want to take the time. In my experience, the only people willing to take the time are the same people who enjoy exchanging handwritten letters.

So, we may send more messages, more words, more characters, even more images, but I'm not convinced we communicate more.

I took 'communicate' in that quote to mean the transmission of messages — necessary or not — regardless of meaning or sense.*

While digital modes facilitate a greater volume of transmission (and whenever I interact with an AI I have to remind it to be succinct), communicating something worthwhile and well is a different matter entirely.

To paraphrase Pascal, brevity takes time.

*Perhaps also thinking of communicable diseases?