Is it really necessary to know how to write by hand nowadays ?

I'd like to say yes.
It's important to the development of the finer motor skills, and it comes in handy when, y'know, writing notes and letters that others are supposed to be able to read.
A sloppy handwriting can give people the completely wrong impression of who you are as a person.

 

I think you do. A lot of stuff is done with technology, yes, but I can't imagine there is anyone who never writes by hand. Above all, writing with a pen is quicker than typing so it's much better if you need to take quick notes.

 

Obviously yes

 

Just to play devils advocate, no, because we don't learn how to use a quill anymore which was in 'olden times' and since laptops are becoming more usage, by the time the 'kids' are grown up that's what they'll be using anyway, so in time, the pen will become just as unused as a quill.

But personally, I think yes, being able to write has a certain feel to it that you don't get from a laptop key.

 

There are jobs where you have to write things where there are no computers available. I don't see anyone writing a term paper with a pen anymore (I did in High School), but you still need to be able to write.

 

As much as I hate writing anything by hand, it's still useful. Maybe some day in the future technology will progress to the point where writing things by hand is completely obsolete, but I don't think we're there yet. However, I do roll my eyes at people lamenting schools who don't teach cursive like it's some kinda freakin art form or something.

 

Maybe in a long time. But I prefer writing g it down, it helps me remember things better.

 

And don't forget that if there is a zombie apocalypse, writing by hand during your last hours might be the only option...

---------- Post added 27th Dec 2015 at 02:41 PM ----------

More seriously...

It's worth thinking that for whatever reason writing by hand works better for some people. Even in today's Brave World of Word Processing, there are people who will write a first draft of something by hand.

 

Many of you reading this have probably never received a hand-written letter, this boggles the mind for us more "mature" individuals, born well before e-mail and texting.

There is something special about letters, both in receiving them, and reading them. When people take the time to deliberate before setting things on paper, you get the best of them, there are literally lines that can be read between the actual lines...by this deliberation one often writes soul-to-soul. Indeed, the hand-writing itself adds richness to the message, let alone that it is plainly obvious (at least for the time being, for most of us without robots) that it was written by a human being.

I have pretty much kept all the letters I have received, it is an amazing way to preserve a memory of what has gone on with me in the past. This collection is not indexed or searchable, so that opening that old shoe-box from time to time is always a kind of rediscovery of the souls who bothered to write something, seal it in an envelope and put it in the mail...there is nothing cheap or easy about communicating this way, but it is certainly a beautiful statement if it is actually done.

No time for letters? Then at least buy some thank you notes with envelopes, use them and watch your life change...

 

Yeah. Learning to write is important, both because it's good for brain development and useful if you can't use electronic communication. Learning to write cursive, though, isn't at all important. It's just letters with loops and shit, and the bad things (hard to write legibly, even harder to read, even if it's well-written) outweigh the good (I dunno. Your signature?).

 

I think etiquette writer Miss Manners once said the correct way of using thank you cards is over her dead body. One is supposed to write the thank you note out from scratch. That said, there is something nice about handwritten thank you note.

I also like sending my holiday mailing out using real mail. I like e-mail--it's convenient and free (apart from Internet charges, of course, but I'm already paying those). But it's nice to send and get something by mail sometimes.

Of course...this may just be the biases of someone old enough to have fond memories of the family's pet dinosaur...

 

Given our technology, it would certainly be possible to live without handwriting, no doubt, but, as with so many things in life, what appear to be luxuries for some are absolute necessities for others.

I suppose we could also live on prepared meals in pill form, but as has been said wisely "Man does not live by bread alone"

 

Cursive is beautiful. I use both print and cursive but I prefer the latter. I haven't met anyone who doesn't understand cursive but that may change 40 years from now.

I did some reading and I was very appalled upon encountering articles on why cursive or handwriting in general should be replaced with keyboarding typing courses or the like. I mean to me, it does not make any sense.

Do we stop teaching children mathematics just because there are calculators for it?
If we don't teach proper handwriting, will learning how to spell the words be completely irrelevant too now that spellcheck is readily available? It raised a lot of questions and I'm not entirely convinced at how this could benefit the next generation. I fear that it will only make people lazy and too dependent on technology that simply knowing how to write the letter "A" would be a struggle for them. I mean would they even know how to hold a pen?

I still write letters back home and I'm not that old at all. Although I could use email, there is a certain charm to receiving personalised letters that were handwritten by a loved one. For me, it has "feelings" and is very personal. There are limitations with using computer mediated communication. Often times, it lacks emotion because it is digital.

I guess handwriting will become obsolete in the future but I also wonder what kinds of people we will have.... I mean the people who would allow something like that to happen, what would they be like?

 

It is necessary. In the UK most application forms must be completed in your own handwriting and I don't envisage a time when that will change.

Reading and the ability to write are considered basic skills and many employers will not consider someone for a position unless they can clearly demonstrate a level of competence. Some employers will even test these skills at interview.

If you don't write very often with a pen it might be good to get into the habit.

 

Yes because you still have to fill in form's by hand

 

You could technically get by without the skill if everything were to be made available electronically, but there is no circumstance in which you will be better served by not knowing how to write by hand.

To be sure, moving certain forms of writing, which constitute the bulk of what we write, to electronic devices does make sense. It's obviously far easier to write an essay with a word processor than it is to write it by hand. But there are certain contexts in which it's just much more convenient to write by hand. Mass examinations (electronics facilitate cheating more readily than pens) are an obvious example.

Where communication would be obstructed by the presence of technology, it's preferable to write by hand (think how much more of a barrier writing with a laptop poses between two people than writing by hand in a classroom context). Editing printed work by hand can make that editing more effective because of the change of format and the clear distinction between the original document and the handwritten notes.

In debates (including courts) and meetings, spontaneous notes by hand are less intrusive than getting out a laptop or a phone for all but the minute-taker. In early education, writing by hand is an important tool in language acquisition and in developing fine motor skills. I don't see a reason why it should be discouraged there.

Phasing out handwriting is certainly not imperative and probably not desirable. Even if we were to go out of our way to make handwriting unnecessary in the contexts in which it is useful, it often turns out that efficiency for its own sake just isn't worth it.

 

Yes, it is important. There are connections made in the brain in children who learn to handwrite, especially writing cursive. To my knowledge there is no replacement.