The End of Writing

Earlier today, in the small, insomnia-riddled hours that often hit in the middle of the night, I left myself a note containing an idea for a blog post. (I didn’t write the note; I merely picked up my phone, punched an icon, and spoke the note.)

I quickly forgot what I put into the note. I didn’t recall it until I read the note many hours later. The note said, “Soon the ability to read and write will be archaic.”

It’s a rare school these days that teaches cursive writing. Once upon a time, and not that long ago, all children had to learn cursive. Enter the computer age. Computer keyboards use block lettering. Virtual keyboards on phones and tablets use block lettering. All electronic devices, including computers and phones, display text as block lettering. Cursive was invented so that people could write faster. But no one writes any longer; today’s communication is by email and text message and social media. There is no need for cursive, so it has gone the way of the horse and buggy.

Progress is exponential. The more the world changes, the faster the changes come at us. Whereas yesterday’s communication usually consisted of pages of handwriting, today’s communication is likely to contain photos and even videos. Progress builds on itself. Innovation builds on itself until it becomes synergistic, a blend of humanity and technology. We no longer have to type instructions into a machine – we can simply talk to the machine.

When all we have to do is talk to a machine, why learn to write? The day is approaching when learning to write will be a task without a purpose. And if you cannot write, then you will be ill-equipped to read. But no matter – text to speech is already old hat. Our machines will listen to us and they will talk to us. They’ll be very smart machines. They’ll know us better than we know ourselves. They will learn our innermost secrets and our every desire and whim. They’ll be our confidantes and best friends.

Maybe I’m overstating the imminent death of the written word in order to make a point about the things we may lose by rushing with reckless haste into a technological future. If the day does come in which the majority of people become so comfortable talking and listening to machines that they no longer feel the need for written words, it will be a sad day for humanity. For as Carl Sagan observed, “A book is proof that humans are capable of working magic.”