This chapter talks about how computers are replacing handwriting. Even to the extreme of taking children straight to a keyboard after they understand the alphabet and skip the penmanship lessons. I remember weeks and weeks in elementary school taking penmanship lessons, and while it was extremely annoying, I'm glad I did. If elementary schools start doing this, we will have generations of people completely reliant on technology-- although some may argue that we all already are. Like the book says, handwriting is "creative, artistic, and personal" (49). If you take handwriting out of children's curriculum, will art suffer? Will the brain actually change? Baron makes the argument that handwriting creates a personal connection to the writing. I completely agree with him. During class, I have to write my notes with a pen on paper. If I type my notes out, it becomes completely mindless and I don't remember anything that was said. I'm sure not all people are like this, but handwriting my notes in class is crucial to me comprehending what happened in class. Even while studying, I will write my study guide over and over while re-reading it and that's the best way for me to retain my notes in preparation for a test.
The section in this chapter about graphology was extremely interesting too. It does seem a little fishy and kind of like astrology (but even more weird) to say that handwriting plays a part in your personality, but it would be cool to look into. I've heard about the Jon Bonet Ramsey case with the handwriting analysis on the ransom letter, and while it does seem intriguing it's sad that the letter didn't hold any further clues towards finding her killer.
Below is a graph I found of how to analyze your own handwriting! It seems like a lot of work for nothing, but it does look like an interesting hobby.
I do agree with your observation that calligraphy has now become something of a rarity these days—at least among most people our age—however, I don’t think that the absence of penmanship lessons will lead to an absolute reliance on technology. Baron says that children would still be taught how to print—which is what we rely on to take down notes as you’ve mentioned among other things—and that the issue is whether these children would still need to take those tedious classes on perfecting a cursive script which they will likely not use (as evidenced by the aforementioned rarity of calligraphy amongst our own generation) or go straight to learning how to touch type. The billion dollar pencil, pen, and paper industries are clearly not going to go out of business anytime soon regardless, and many including myself would agree with your point that writing down notes by hand helps one to remember them better than typing them. Both handwriting and digital communication are important to our culture, and it is my belief that they will be able to coexist despite the latter’s mounting prevalence.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree that manually writing notes/ideas down is a much better way at ensuring that whatever you write down will be something that you remember. I think part of the reason why we remember things better when we physically write them down is that, in the end, it is a bit slower and we are forced to pay more attention to the shape and curve of each letter—which probably impresses upon our minds just what we are writing. When we type something out, nearly every key feels the same. Each letter in handwriting, however, feels distinct and different and I think our minds/nerves/fingers can tell the difference and categorize it through ‘muscle memory’.
ReplyDeleteI think it is absurd for handwriting lessons to be taken away from elementary lessons. I spent my Kindergarden thru fourth grade years learning penmanship and how the different slopes of the letters affected the total look of the paper. I loved those lessons and didn't realize how important they were, but I am so glad that I was given the opportunity to improve my penmanship. Now I really take pride in making sure that my class notes are legible and asthetically pleasing. Also I too find that writing down notes during a lecture helps me remember what was said, and using a computer to type notes is absolutely mindless and completely erases my memeory of the lecture. I agree with everything you said in the post. It was very well thought out!
ReplyDeleteReally nice use of visuals in your post on handwriting/calligraphy, Katie. Where are your post for Chapters 10-12? I'm anxious to see what you post on those chapters.
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