A Subject Close To Our Hearts

[sbudzynski]

i cant even blame poor handwriting, only poor reading skills!

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Steve Budzynski


"So, pass another round around for the kids. Who have nothing left to lose and for those souls old and sold out by the soles of my shoes"

 

[IknowMe]

It actually Is Morgan Wilson, Mr Wilson was taken so I improvised. Perhaps it was just a case of collective consciousness steering you in the right direction.

Wow, I'm having amnesia and deja vu at the same time.
I think I've forgotten this before.

 

[sbudzynski]

Hmm collective consciousness must me luck

Either way thanks for the vote Morgan!

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Steve Budzynski


"So, pass another round around for the kids. Who have nothing left to lose and for those souls old and sold out by the soles of my shoes"

 

[sbudzynski]

must meAN luck

atleast its friday!!!!!!!!!!

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Steve Budzynski


"So, pass another round around for the kids. Who have nothing left to lose and for those souls old and sold out by the soles of my shoes"

 

[donbott]

The sword is not only weaker than the pen, it's also much harder to write with. I tried.

Cursive, foiled again! (it's pointless, I know)

DonBott
Chairman
Omnipitence, Ltd.

 

[chiph]

I think my handwriting is so bad because I'm always in a hurry. To have good handwriting, you must slow down and pay attention to what you're doing, and my mind is already off on the next thing.

Learning to type in 7th grade was a boon to my teachers.

Chip H.


____________________________________________________________________
If you want to get the best response to a question, please read FAQ222-2244 first

 

[SantaMufasa]

Frankly, as much as I love good handwriting, and particularly calligraphy, I fear that within just a few years, manual notetaking will go the way of "buggy whips". We'll have recorder/transcriber units that will instantly produce (from lectures/conversations/et cetera) printed notes (of classes/business meetings/marriage proposals/et cetera). <shrug>

C'est la vie de technologie.

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
[I can provide you with low-cost, remote Database Administration services: see our website and contact me via www.dasages.com]

 

[jsaxe]

When I was in grade school in the mid-1950's we still used steel pens and inkwells and learned the Palmer method of handwriting. In spite of all the drilling and practice, it never really took hold with me, but I find that my handwriting is much better when I use a fountain pen. I have an old-fashioned desk set with penholder and inkwell on my desk at home, and use it for bank deposit slips, checks, and correspondence. Somehow, making a bit of a ceremony out of simple daily writing tasks seems to make it a more craftsmanlike activity, and it seems to me that that carries over into other things I do.


jsaxe

Mundus Vult Decipi

 

[SantaMufasa]

The interesting possible "hidden" effects of de-emphasising printing/handwriting, perhaps into oblivion (in favour of technology-based alternatives) are the physiological impacts on the brain: If children do not ever develop these skills, there will be parts of the brain that suffer a "use-it-or-lose-it" syndrome. The motor skills that accrue with handwriting may permanently disappear.

This same "use-it-or-lose-it" effect occurs with many other intellectual/motor skills such as those that clinicians associate with multi-lingual capacities, math skills, fine-motor development, et cetera...If one does not develop some of these brain functions at an early age, then they may be impaired (in that particular convention) for the rest of their lives.

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
[I can provide you with low-cost, remote Database Administration services: see our website and contact me via www.dasages.com]

 

[BJCooperIT]

I am a visual learner. When I was in school I often would take a test and be able to answer a question because I could visualize the words I wrote when recopying my notes. I wonder if my learning process would be hampered nowadays since I often am looking at the keyboard when typing, not the words on the screen.

^{Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance. ~George Bernard Shaw}
Consultant Developer/Analyst Oracle, Forms, Reports & PL/SQL (Windows)
My website: Emu Products Plus

 

[UniqueFD]

[off-topic meanderings]
Dave (aka Santa ;-)) I'm not sure I agree - use it or lose it. Not permanently, anyway.

From what I understand, as children we have a vast number of synapses in the brain (1,000 trillion according to wikipedia), some stronger than others, and these are either reinforced and strengthened through use, or break down through neglect, leaving us as adults with 10%, maybe less.

I am told that it is possible to create new synapses; however it takes a lot of effort. Consider, for instance, people who lose a limb and have to re-learn tasks with their less dominant one, or people who lose their hearing/sight - their other senses become more attuned. I understand new synaptic pathways are created in the brain in these instances (called Synaptic Plasticity).

I found this in Google's cache (couldn't download the original PDF for some reason) which may shed some light, but I confess I haven't read it all (yet!). Seems to me, though, that we can learn things and develop new skills later in life.
[/off-topic]

So, what about the 'chestnut' about left-handed people's writing? I'm left-handed; I can write neatly if I need to (although VERY slowly) but most of my letters are printed, not joined. I learned using an ink-pen and went through reams of blotting paper to avoid smudging!

Tony
___________________________________________________
Reckless words pierce like a sword,
but the tongue of the wise brings healing (Solomon)

 

[mjldba]

BJCooper: I had a similar "learning" experience that has served me well. I tend to learn certain things visually (golf swing and skiing) that I could never learn reading a "how to" book while reading a document out-loud a few times (many times??) will help me retain the info.

There were times I was taking a test in college & I could (I swear) close my eyes and visualize the page in the text book. Didn't work everytime but the process worked and I almost felt like I was cheating. I couldn't make it happen on demand but, when it worked, I'm sure I had a sly smile on my face.
-----------------------------------------

I cannot provide a source but I'm sure that I read a child must experience compassion at an early age, perhaps by as early an age as 4 or 5, to develope that personality trait or they will never express compassion for another person as an adult.

 

[sbudzynski]

I wish I could learn how to play like Tiger by watching Tiger.

Until then, the only reason I'd be called Mr. Woods is because thats where I am looking for my ball.

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Steve Budzynski


"So, pass another round around for the kids. Who have nothing left to lose and for those souls old and sold out by the soles of my shoes"

 

[Stella740pl]

BJCooper,
mjldba,

... I could (I swear) close my eyes and visualize the page in the text book.

I could do that, too, in junior high and high school, with my eyes open, standing there in front of the class and answering my lessons to the teacher.

I visualized not only textbook pages, but pages of my own notebook, so taking notes during classes (thus, fast handwriting) were not in vain. (I sometimes was able to recall most of what teachers said in class, too - wasn't I supposed to?)

I never felt like cheating, though. So I had good visual memory (and other kinds, amplified by motor skills) - was it so bad? Wasn't it what they wanted from me - to learn any way I could?

I college, though, I needed a little more than that. And always taking hand-written notes in class helped tremendously the learning process (and, in fact, was required by some professors).

 

[mjldba]

Steve: agreed, I'm quite the lumberjack myself but look at the money I save on sunscreen!!

If only I could learn to focus on the better half of my "Ray-Ray" game .... sometimes I play like Ray Floyd, sometimes I play like Ray Charles. I can turn a 7,000 yd track into an 8,000 walk anytime.

 

[CrystaLv]

Reading your posts about how bad your handwriting is I am wondering - are you pretending to be in IT and typing while flipping burgers? ))

As everyone knows Doctors are an example of terrible writing - so did they go to medical school with suffering grades? I doubt it. Calligraphy is just a matter of 'pretty' IMO.

 

[Stella740pl]

Well, in your example with the doctors, it could be a matter of your health, couldn't it? Because I don't think most doctors will start to print out legible computer-made prescriptions any time soon.

And not so many people actually said their handwriting is bad. Many said it helped them a lot in the learning process - you know, in school, when computers were not at every desk in every class (are they there now?). So some of us actually worry here about the generation of our children losing this great skill.

 

[CrystaLv]

I don't know anyone who was a victim of doctor's bad handwriting...

 

[Stella740pl]

Well, I once had a pharmacist call a doctor for explanations. Who knows if every one of them calls, or just makes a decision. Besides, the cases we heard of are usually the most outrageous ones. We don't know most of the story 'in the middle'.

I am not talking 'pretty' calligraphical writing here - just make it fast, clean, and legible.

 

[mjldba]

I don't know anyone personally but, recently, someone was ill enough that a call to the EMT's was necessary. The culprit was an incorrectly filled prescription, probably caused by carelessness (the pharmacist) as well as sloppy writing (the doctor).

The script called for a dosage strength of 1.0% and the pharmacist interpreted the dosage as 10% (what's a missed decimal point between professionals?) so the fault could be spread to both parties.