What skills can you lose if you stop writing by hand

Scientists say that writing by hand is very useful. At the same time, the level of literacy, the meaning of what is written and the type of writing materials do not matter. The writing process itself is important, which plays an important role in a person's life. Studies have shown that a complete switch to typing on the keyboard will lead to 7 serious consequences.

Recently, an alarming trend has been noticed in the world: people are increasingly refusing to write by hand. In the USA, Germany and Finland, penmanship in the lower grades is already given as an elective, and in some places there is not even this. The American federal general education standards, introduced in 2010, provide for teaching children to write only in preschool educational institutions.

This means that having received some basic skills in kindergarten, the child no longer encounters handwritten texts. From the 1st grade, kids are taught to enter text using keyboards and touch panels.  Sweden is also actively moving towards this. They believe that children's motor skills are not designed for such a complex process and it is better for first-graders to press the keys. Special programs at the same time convert the typed text into a handwritten one and students thus learn to read what is written by hand.

Conservative Great Britain is still holding out. But even there, children in the lower grades are taught to write and type in parallel. After completing a course of penmanship, a student passes an exam on it. After that, he no longer faces the words and only prints until the end of school.

Strangely enough, there is talk of a complete transition to printed text and in Of Russia. Writing has been simplified several times over the last century. The first serious reform was carried out shortly after the revolution by the Bolsheviks. Several letters were removed from the alphabet, and the rules were simplified. So the new government managed to make literacy training more efficient and faster.

In the 50s, the letters that were considered classic "decorations" were removed from the prescriptions. All kinds of curls and hooks were a heavy legacy of tsarism and were suitable only for writing with fountain pens. Under Stalin, entire institutions worked to rationalize writing.

New methods of teaching schoolchildren provided that when writing, mental tension alternated with relaxation. They adopted a standard in which the line down was carried out with pressure, and up — without. It was not easy to remember all the directions of movement of the pen and not everyone could write quickly. But they were less tired. After Stalin's death, the rules were revised and simplified. They introduced a "continuous letter", which provides good speed, but causes rapid fatigue.

In the 90s, changes came again. The number of penmanship lessons in schools has been significantly reduced. Now, when schoolchildren are allowed to use tablets, more and more children refuse notebooks and pens. There are no requirements for the beauty of handwriting for a long time, so many write terribly or even in block letters.

Swedish scientists claim that in 50-70 years writing will turn from a mandatory skill into an art. If you can now clumsily write a few phrases a year and are embarrassed by your handwriting, then half a century later you will be considered a calligrapher.  But the fate of those who completely abandon the letter is unenviable. Experts named 7 problems they will face.

By ceasing to write, people will become less able to read and express themselves less expressively. In addition, coordination and motor skills will deteriorate. This is due to the fact that manual writing involves areas of the brain responsible for the interpretation of sensory sensations and the formation of speech.

Scientists from the Norwegian University of Stavanger found out that those who write fast, read faster. The so—called Broca's center, the part of the brain responsible for composing words and recognizing letters, is best developed in those who write.

It is known for sure that children who do not write have a worse developed eye. And vice versa — for those who have problems with the eye, it is not possible to write beautifully and quickly. This was noticed in ancient times, so in China, Japan and in Arab countries, when recruiting archers, calligraphers were preferred.

Researchers have found that those who do not write by hand themselves are very bad at recognizing handwritten text. For children without writing skills, it generally looks like a strange doodle. It is possible that in a world where manuscripts will soon be seen only in a museum, this is not critical.

But do not forget that recognizing what is written is also a kind of mental activity. Studies conducted with the help of the latest equipment have shown that when reading a written text, more parts of the brain work than when working with printed text.

Spelling, punctuation and grammar will play a minor role. Now almost all gadgets automatically correct or highlight errors and it relaxes. Over time, people will not be able to type correctly if, for some reason, the program turns out to work.

We will formulate our thoughts worse. The writing person, even before his pen touches the paper, puts the text in his mind. Writing involves the highest form of abstract thinking. When typing on a computer, this is not the case, since we understand perfectly well that we can change or fix anything at any time.

Imagination will suffer. People who write better represent different events, characters and actions in their minds. The images of literary heroes born by our brain are more vivid when writing an essay. When typing the same text, what is happening seems more dim and schematic.

Children who cannot write will learn worse. The ability to memorize will also decrease. Scientists have found that the educational material recorded by hand is remembered much better than typed. This is again due to the fact that when writing, you have to formulate a thought in advance.

Psychologists from the USA Pam Muller and Daniel Oppenheimer have determined that students typing on a computer make more detailed notes. But those who record the material remember it much better. This is due to the fact that when writing, you have to rephrase the text in your mind and formulate it so that the record is more accurate, but at the same time short.

Human progress does not always lead to improvement. This is clearly seen in the example of the rejection of the letter. Obviously, the hours saved on penmanship lessons are unlikely to be enough to later regain the abilities lost because of this.