Of all the skills that computers have rendered obsolete, reading and writing in cursive seem like some of the easiest to abandon.
Cursive was part of national education standards until 2010, and while some states still require it, the explanation that cursive might be useful in adulthood became increasingly flimsy as computers took over.
Unless you like reading old documents…
The National Archives needs volunteers who can read cursive to help transcribe some of its 300m+ digital documents, per USA Today.
- Many documents date back to the Revolutionary War, when everyone still wrote in the ridiculous, looping script that, until recently, tormented modern schoolchildren.
- “Reading cursive is a superpower,” National Archives community manager Suzanne Isaacs told USA Today.
- If you know the weird cursive G from the weird cursive H (or even the maniacal cursive Z), go sign up to help.
What about other “useless” skills?
Learning cursive still doesn’t seem too important, but there are other skills that the unending march of technology is also rendering irrelevant.
- Technology has already killed elevator operators, video store clerks, and switchboard operators.
- And mail sorters, tax preparers, train engineers, and even sports referees could be next.
- Plus, AI specifically could eliminate several specialized jobs, from marketers, graphic designers, and data analysts, to coders, radiologists, and lawyers.
Jobs that benefit from a human touch are safer, like counselors, food service workers, and elementary school teachers, who, coincidentally, may have forced you to learn cursive.
Genuine creativity is one irreplaceable skill anyone can have, so just do whatever you do better than a computer could.
Luckily, we handwrite this newsletter every morning in cursive, so we’re safe.
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