Technology changed our way working around things, here’s some of my rants on this topic (I’m on leave today so there’s free roaming format);
Memorizing has no merit now because its OK if you don’t remember everything as long as you know how and where to get the information (read: Google.com or OpenAI). What’s the 5 phone numbers or addresses you’re able to recall by heart? In my schooldays, open book tests are almost unheard of.
I remember navigating around using a map 🗺️, yes a physical paper one, now I can’t even find the specialty shop in my hometown without using the GPS (because there’s so much has changed, multilayered flyovers, no more landmarks to refer to) and so much expectation on estimated travel time we’re afraid to follow the signboards because apps like Waze and Google Maps optimize traffic for route considerations.
Paperless, I mean digital forms where you scan and fill up details on your phones or open links from your email. There’s no place for beautiful trained and self-designed signatures ✍🏻 I remember when I was 9 or 10 years old we scribbled on books on how cool is my signature compared to yours, the cursive writing, the fountain pen, felt-tip and markers, the dashes and dots on top of words. It’s art and it was fun.
Customer service becomes expensive if you wanted to talk to a real human especially in-person. Everything is replaced with menus, numbers on a phone, AI chatbot that tries to get what you need and all I’m trying to get is to get the menu to talk to a real human. Waiters are replaced with traybots and you order over a QR code, disables the choice for customisation like no spicy ingredients or choice of milk and so on.
Price haggling is a rare skill nowadays because there’s no one to haggle with anymore, you doom scroll searching at online marketplaces for the keyword of choice comparing prices and looking at photos, vidoes of the product plus the reviews from previous customers – making decisions all in front a screen. Gone are the days you need to browse shop by shop on foot, feel the product, chat up to merchants, ask for better pricing.
I don’t think my children would understand or appreciate fully if I were to tell them stories of the above paragraphs unless I bring them to places where there’s less technology than Malaysia, where people still do things the 90s or 80s way. Perhaps as parents, we need to convey the concepts of working on or around problems no matter the process – is more important than the how.
Cheers 🥂 MFR