Ill Literate

Literacy is defined as having the ability to read and write, possessing an education, or just having knowledge of a particular subject or field. Meeting any or all of those requirements qualifies you for being literate. However, in this fast-paced, technological information age we now inhabit, being literate doesn't automatically mean you are smart or that you qualify for a job. The definition of literacy is currently changing as our means of communication are rapidly being converted from analog to digital. Teachers and students alike may argue that it is more important to know how to type than to write in cursive. To consider that typing may even become a priority over either writing or spelling is no longer unfathomable. Paper is wasteful, takes up a lot of space, and pens may be thought of as not only messy or tiresome, but downright primitive. Computers are cleaner, faster, and in some cases easier to use.

The most important distinguishing factor of computer literacy is that the medium on which you now write is responsive and interactive. Imagine, your notebook has suddenly sprung to life (yeah, kinda like that annoying paper clip with eyes) and warned you of all your grammatical errors and misspellings! Not only that, its cleaned up your writing so that no matter what, it will always be legible. No more white out, no more erasers sharpeners or big blotches of scribbles and dark matter (Oh no! What ever will become of the pocket protector?!). Not only that, but with the click of a button, you don't even need the envelope for the letter you were writing, let alone the stamp.

So what's wrong with phasing out cursive for typing? I don't know, you tell me. What's wrong with forgetting how to cook, or to catch a fish or plant a tree? Why should we even have to chew our food anymore? Why not just consume it intravenously or just genetically alter our digestive system for perpetual regeneration? In fact, why learn anything anymore? The elections are all rigged and the country is owned by corporations anyway, so we might as well do away with the Constitution and just ignore history altogether.

My point is that by doing away with something even as seemingly insignificant as cursive, we're neglecting a very important part of the learning process which is necessary for growth and progress. Consider the calculator: can you solve those complex math problems on paper? In high school our mantra was, "When will I ever need to know this??" Only now we're finding ourselves in situations where we wish we could remember it or had even learned it in the first place. Imagine, if we still taught Latin in grade school...every American could theoretically be fluent in any number of romance languages, including Spanish and Italian. If nothing else, we could at least recite the origin of the words and symbols we use to communicate with. But no; somewhere along the line someone decided this knowledge was unimportant. So now when we go to Europe we look like bumbling idiots and leave a horrible impression for the rest of us back home. Just as comparable to the scenario of being lost in the woods or caught behind enemy lines. By neglecting those simple and traditional survival tactics passed down from generation to generation, we've left ourselves vulnerable to failure and defeat at the hands of our own ignorance and incompetence.

Will the world stop spinning without cursive? Will our hearts explode? No. But those little things we call "signatures" will become a glorified remnant of the golden age of penmanship; a skill only bestowed upon a select well-to-do and educated few. Jokers, we'll call them, yuppies. The only reason they know how to write is because their parents are rich and they don't have to work for a living--they can spend more time learning useless trades. Hell, their parents probably paid their way through an Art History degree from Columbia College. Pssshh, artists. Who needs 'em? I know who I am. And everyone else knows me too. They know my fingerprint, and my retina, and the IP address linked to the microchip in my hand.

Ha, knowledge. Bunch of jokers.