A Declaration of Victory for Analog
When was the last time you wrote a letter? Not typed a Word doc letter, not talked-to-texted a letter – when was the last time you put pen to paper and wrote?
OK, so if you still send actual, physical holiday cards, you’re winning on this one!
Today is National Handwriting Day, a “holiday” that began in 1977. You won’t be surprised to learn that this holiday was devised by the Writing Instrument Manufacturers Association as a way to remind people to use more pens, pencils, and writing papers. Today’s date was chosen because it’s the birthday of John Hancock, the first person to sign the Declaration of Independence and the one who gave us that famous and flamboyant signature.
None of that is the reason you’re reading about this “holiday” here. National Handwriting Day is a springboard into your brain – specifically, your brain on analog, not digital.
A group of researchers at the University of Tokyo in Japan published research in 2021 that showed that our brains retain what we write...
