hpr-knowledge-base/hpr_transcripts/hpr2061.txt

Episode: 2061
Title: HPR2061: Handwriting
Source: https://hub.hackerpublicradio.org/ccdn.php?filename=/eps/hpr2061/hpr2061.mp3
Transcribed: 2025-10-18 13:50:04

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This is HPR episode 2.61 entitled Handwriting.
It is hosted by ROOP and is about 7 minutes long.
The summary is, ROOPs argue why people should use Handwriting to gain superpowers.
This episode of HPR is brought to you by AnanasThost.com.
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This is ROOPs and this is Hacker Public Radio.
Yesterday, I listened to an episode of Freakonomics and it was on Handwriting.
And as a child, I disliked pitmanship and I was horrible at it.
Everything was bad and eventually my teachers just told me to print
so that they could read the answers that I put on the paper.
And now I understand this is a tech show and it should have an audience that
leans toward the fact that computers are awesome.
But most of you, fine listeners, should be interested in what is the best
solution to a problem, especially if it's contrary to conventional thought.
So many reasons were given in this episode of Freakonomics for Handwriting
to be a thing of the past and I think most of them are just a lot of bull.
First, some more qualifications about me.
I'm a college dropout that I did eventually graduate and until last week I was a teacher
who worked with students who were not always the best.
And I've been without a cell phone for a couple years and I love fountain pens.
All right, so this probably doesn't qualify me for much as I'm certainly not a doctor
or a scientific researcher, but I do have some real-world experiences and I have
been experimenting on my students and all of that, of course, in a good way.
So here are some of the cons that were brought up.
And Handwriting is old-fashioned. It's true.
Typing's faster. This is also true. Curse of you go about 30 words per minute on average.
And people's hands hurt when they're bright with a pen. And this is true too.
And lack of success as a child,
demotivated people, school damaged them. This also could be true.
And these are all excuses I've made myself and they're all excuses my students have made to me.
Now I'm a computer science teacher and I require all of my students to keep a handwritten
notebook in all of my classes. They can use this notebook on all of their tests
and all their quizzes and their assignments. And of course, if you ask them, I'm obviously
an old-fashioned stick in the mud, but they don't use those words.
Now there's nothing wrong with using tech to help with anything, but if you don't understand
concepts of why and how all the tech in the world is not going to help you. And many people will
try to use tech as a crutch. Now typing is faster. Totally true. Most students can get to the point
where they can type everything that is said in a lecture. Now this skips a very crucial part
of the learning process where you have to use your brain to analyze what is being said.
If I'm just writing everything someone says, maybe I'm not thinking about it as hard,
is if I'm listening to what they say and putting it back in my own words.
Now writing is slower and that forces you to take the content and put it into your own words.
Think about it. And this is called being an active listener.
Now the pain in your hand should go away with practice and good form and having the proper tools.
As I said, I love fountain pens and they glide over the paper. And you don't have to hold home
with the death grip that you have to hold a roller ball. And form means to use your arm
not your wrist when you write. And with practice this can be done. I can sit with my fountain pens
and I can take all kinds of notes all day long. It's wonderful.
Now as a child I was very bad at handwriting and if you look at my handwriting now I'm still very bad at it.
But my teacher was really wrong to tell me to stop. Part of education is to teach about failure
and difficulty. If people only do easy things who would do all the hard things. A person they
interviewed on Freakonomics said that their child's school put too much emphasis on handwriting
and they moved their child to another school as this was having too much of a negative effect on
his feelings. So way to teach your child to run away from hard things that'll I'm sure
prove to great success in his life. And I hope that no college professor ever hurts his little
feelings or requires too much from him. Life gets harder. Education should be hard and that's
to prepare students for this work of life. Sorry I have lots of opinions on this. So enough
cons about it. How about some of some pro-argument for handwriting. So laptops are full of distractions
and most adults I know can't keep focus with all their email and their social media trying to
grab their attention. Man I'm very ADHD and laptops kill my focus. So in an independent study
they talked about on Freakonomics. Two researchers found that handwriters and laptoppers,
I just coined a word, had no difference in learning facts. So the sky is blue,
dogs like to chase cats, things like that. That's where my mind goes when I think of facts.
And there was no difference unless they were allowed to review their notes before the quiz.
Handwriters then gained an edge. It's almost like they thought of what they wrote and then they
were able to read it and learn something as compared to typing something while someone's talking
and then reading it for the first time. So concepts on the other hand, handwriters always held
an advantage. It's almost like they were thinking about the concepts more than the students who
were just typing everything that was said. So something not really covered was writing new content.
I give my students Fountain Pens as rewards and this makes writing so much more special. They take
more time to write things, they take more time to think about what they're trying to say. It's a win-win.
Now everyone is different. Of course, but I want you to please try handwriting for a few weeks
and see if it helps you retain more. If you're not a student, watch a lecture on the
on the internet or read a book and see if you can learn more and thank more. Now finally,
handwriting is personal and as I said on Frekenomics, it's a new thing as a handwriting used to just
be a way to give receipts or jot down things up. But I'm willing to mail a postcard to almost
anyone like if you live very far away, it's going to cost me a lot of stamps. Please don't. But maybe
you should. If you're in the United States, I'll totally send you a postcard and if you
all get to just send me your address to troops in Gmail and so that you can get a feel for that
personal touch. So I've made some arguments. Handwriting is making you smarter. You know,
it helps you develop grit. It makes you feel special. It gives you superpowers.
Hopefully you will try this out. So this has been Drupes and this is Hacker Public Radio,
HBR and there will be fountain pen recommendations in the show notes.
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