An Interesting Issue

I ran into an interesting situation the other day that I feel the need to talk about.  It occurs to me that today's technology is having an unusual impact on people, that I'm not sure everyone has thought about.

Before I start, I just want to say that I don't consider myself to be "techy" (is that a word?).  I mean to say that I don't go out and buy the latest and greatest technology; I don't own a tablet, my smartphone is only moderately intelligent, I don't own the latest gaming system or even the newest games.  I try to keep my life simple, with as few complications as possible which is why until recently I haven't even been using many apps (either on my phone or my computer).

That being said, I never thought that I spent that much time typing or using my fingers/hands in a strictly technological way.  However, because my study-style requires me to hand-write my notes, I noticed that my muscles distinctly had something to say about using them in this new way.  I was not expecting to wake up the other morning with a sore hand because it was not used to writing.  How weird is that?!  How many of you have noticed something similar?  I'm sure this is an age-dependant question these days.  Anyone born prior to the '90s likely understand this better than those born after.  So to those born before 1990, have you noticed how little actual hand-writing you do in a day anymore?

It's not surprising after this to learn that schools are looking at removing learning how to write (draw letters, etc) from the curriculum.  I believe the last article I read about the subject was that schools were looking to remove "writing", but still keeping "printing".  This seems to me to be a strange concept to wrap my head around.  I guess "writing" would become one of those skills you'd need to take a special interest class in - like calligraphy, or stained-glass making.

I haven't decided if this is a good or bad thing, or if it's just a reflection of societal and technological advancement, but it hit me in a "how weird is that" kind of way.  I grew up with the primary method of written communication being hand-written and it was important that it be legible to others, so regular practice was paramount.  I have two young children and it feels strange to think that while they will likely learn more in school than I did, but also that what they learn could make what I learned to be antiquated.  Is hand-writing going to become similar to using data cards to program computers?

Spending a day with a hot pack around my hand was definitely surreal.