In this blog post, we will explore the reasons why we still insist on handwriting in an era dominated by digital devices and examine its significance in depth.
Why is the 21st century called the digital age?
Mobile phones, which were once only capable of texting and making calls, suddenly gained video call capabilities, and in less than a decade, smartphones appeared, combining the functions of computers. Laptops, which used to be as heavy as textbooks, are now less than 1 kg, and tablet PCs are replacing laptops.
The development of digital devices has not only brought about technological changes, but has also completely changed our daily lives. For example, in the past, people would say, “Send me that file by email,” but now they say, “Send it to me by Telegram,” and college students have also changed.
In the past, the ideal image of college life was students walking around campus with textbooks in their hands, but nowadays, it is common to see students sitting on the grass with their tablets and laptops, doing their assignments or listening to lectures. Although textbooks have been replaced by PDF and PPT files, interestingly, one thing remains unchanged.
That is the fact that people still want to take notes with a pen and paper.
At first glance, it seems that the sound of laptop keyboards is more prevalent in liberal arts classrooms these days, but in many cases, students feel that they have only truly taken notes when they have organized the contents of their laptops into notebooks or added handwritten notes to printed lecture materials. Think about when you need to take notes in a hurry. We first look for a notepad and writing utensils in our bags, and only when we can’t find them do we take out our smartphones. Even though the memo function on digital devices is much faster and more convenient.
Why do people insist on writing by hand?
One might simply say, “Because it’s easier and more convenient.” However, digital devices are actually much more efficient. Handwritten notes are difficult to store, easy to lose, and impossible to search. Notes written on smartphones or laptops can be viewed anytime, anywhere, and are easy to share. Even so, people still want to hold a pen in their hands and write on paper.
This is not simply a matter of habit or convenience. Rather, it is closer to an “instinctive resistance to digital civilization.”
In an artificial and perfect world made up of 0s and 1s, we try to hold on to the primitive senses and ways that only humans have. It’s like using a vacuum cleaner but finishing up with a mop. Even in an era dominated by the digital world, we show our resistance with pencils and paper.
Science fiction movies often depict a world where robots rule over humans. Underlying these narratives is a fear of being subjugated by the digital world we have created ourselves. Consciously or unconsciously, humans resist this fear and choose to “write by hand.” Why “by hand”?
Humans are the only animals that use their hands with such precision. Primates also use their hands, but they cannot perform tasks as delicately as humans.
In other words, hands play a key role in enabling humans to live as humans. When writing by hand, we use more strength in our hands than we realize. We don’t just draw lines, we adjust the spacing between characters, organize the structure of sentences, and construct logic. All of these processes are impossible without precise hand movements. What if we wrote with our toes? It would be difficult to expect neat handwriting. This goes beyond the structural differences between the two body parts and shows that hands are tools that symbolize the existence of humans. Handwriting is not simply a record, but an expression of humanity that reveals what it means to be human. Therefore, we resist the mechanical nature of digital technology and seek to confirm our humanity through handwriting. Reflecting these sentiments and demands, recently released digital devices are focusing on reproducing the analog feel of paper and pens as much as possible.
Representative examples include Apple’s iPad Pro and Apple Pencil combination, and Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra and S Pen. These devices recognize even the pressure, tilt, and speed of handwriting, providing a feel similar to actual handwriting, and the delay time has been reduced to 2-3 ms, making it so sophisticated that there is almost no difference from writing on paper. Recently, AI-based handwriting recognition has been added, enabling automatic conversion of handwriting into text and even analysis of handwriting habits to provide customized features. We are now in an era where it is no longer humans who adapt to machines, but machines that understand and follow human senses and behaviors.
