Cursive Useless Skill or Not?

[Tom Snyder 4,112]

The only cursive i can't read is the doctors or players of sports. They never do it properly, just a short version which looks like gibberish.

[Mutemutt 773]

I'd also like to say that it's use as a signature is more of a traditional use anyway. Nothing important ever uses a hand written signature as it's only defense or any of it's defense at all. It's easy enough to forge just like your standard print. There's much better ways of making someone is who they say they are. You can pretty much sign anything you want on to those receipts at the store and such; how many cashiers have you seen check the back of your card for a signature?

 

In that sense, art is "useless", too. 

 

Shall we only pay attention to "useful things" ? If then, this world would be boring as heck.

 

Maybe cursive is useless, still, it doesn't change the fact that it's beautiful.

 

True enough, but your average day graffiti is way more interesting to look at/read. Just saying 

Edited January 10, 2015 by Mutemutt

[IJoinedForPonies 126]

Cursive is a writing style that is slowly dying off. At some point they will probably cease to require it for education unless you take a writing class of some sort in high school. Hardly anyone ever uses it for anything important, or at all for that matter.

[Wingnut 6,994]

I think cursive is still a good skill to have.  I went to Catholic school as a kid and they stressed handwriting there.  I have some artistic skill and being able to do cursive well has added to that.  Some of the pics I uploaded on Deviantart include cursive if anybody is interested.  :comeatus: 

[King Sejong 859]

   Maybe here in the west, but in the east, their handwriting is exclusively cursive, such as Hebrew, Greek and Cyrillic, although signs and posters are in block letters, each language in written form can only be wrote in cursive. As for myself, I will always write in cursive, because it shows off my knowledge, like typing, anything worth doing is worth doing better, I care about my writing, and if someone does not wish to learn cursive, don't make difficult for those who want to learn it, like typing it requires patience and discipline, to do then master.

Edited January 10, 2015 by Emperor Peter

[Samurai Equine 51,714]

Oh boy, cursive...

 

I remember my 2nd grade teacher FORCING us to write in that style. That's right, forcing us. Either you did it or you failed. And you know, I did it when I was in that class long, long ago. And I remember all the dumb things she would say about it. She'd say how cursive is BETTER, how it's FASTER, and how it's NECESSARY. Well, here's the thing...

 

I HATE CURSIVE!
I'M NO GOOD AT IT. I OFTEN HAVE TROUBLE READING IT. MY PRINT HAND WRITING IS FASTER THAN MY CURSIVE. IT JUST DIDN'T CLICK WITH ME.

 

And here's the thing about cursive as far as where I've lived and where I've been...

I've hardly ever been asked to actually write in cursive when a signature was needed. I've gone so long without it by now, I often forget how to write it.

Secondly, your hand writing ALL READY HAS a unique style to it. That's why forensic investigators can link your handwriting back to you, regardless of whether you write in cursive or print.

Lastly, if you REALLY want to have a unique writing style, cursive is not your only choice. There are many ways to write stuff. Look at how other people write stuff. Look at various free font styles. Just writing stuff fast can create a unique style without having to do cursive.

 

If you ask me, cursive is about as unnecessarily excessive as asking Japanese people to only write their kanji/kana on a scroll with a large paint bush...

Edited January 10, 2015 by Samurai Equine

[CuriousPony 157]

I can read that! *puffs chest out proudly* 

 

But let's pretend that it didn't take me a minute to do so... 

 

 

I remember learning cursive when I was really little... and then after that, I never used it. Ever. So I forgot how to use it. 

 

Then came the time when I had to start using signatures. I told my mom that I had no idea how to do it, and she was like, "oh, that's okay. Just make it up. Most people's signatures look like nothing but illegible scribbles anyway." 

Then she showed me hers, and.. yeah. It was basically the first letter of her name and a squiggly line, and that was it. So I learned the art of writing the letter B and then scribbling convincingly after it. 

[The Soldier 2,044]

 

 

 

Forensic analysis of signatures is much easier than of print, as I was told.

Does forensic analysis even apply to print? It seems too easy to even use it on print, in my opinion...

 

Cuz if not, what you were told was true, just not the way you were expected to understand.

[Duster Dawnhorse 248]

I never learned cursive. I have a wrist disability that makes writing physically painful so the teacher just kicked me out of the classroom when they learned cursive. I actually first started to learn cursive at 23 when I was assistant teaching English in Japan.

 

I still don't know how to read cursive. Every time I get a request or commission for a graphic with cursive font, I have to type it in print then switch.

[Gernia 691]

I think cursive is worthless except for performing a signature.

[IcyHaze 594]

It's certianly not a useless skill. A hand written letter in cursive is a lot more personal than a bland email.

[spits 71]

I like cursive, both as a form of writing and art form.  I don't think it's gone yet. I think a really great signature is made in cursive.

[Espy Vibe 4,298]

The only thing I'll say is that cursive was replaced with Times New Roman, 12 pt. font!

That's burned in my memory forever now. 

[Clawdeen 14,286]

Never used it past 4th grade.

[Tacodidra 61,197]

I stopped using it the moment the teachers no longer forced us to use it. I never found it useful – it might be faster to write, but most of the time, it's awful to read. Even my signature isn't fully in cursive.

[Iforgotmybrain 5,720]

The only cursive I do is my signature, and I can only do that because I’ve practiced it and have it burnt into muscle memory lol. I personally think it doesn’t really have much real life application at this point since almost all our communication is done via electronics. Even the most archaic companies are doing electronic logs or what have you now.

[Retro*Derpy 3,186]

I mean, I can see the debate why it could be useless. I used to mess with an old coworker by writing in cursive instructions. In honesty my handwriting is way better in cursive then in print.

[EpicEnergy 23,218]

Kinda obsolete, wish I learned to print better cause I'm terrible at print. Way better at cursive writing.

[Sonell 7]

I absolutely love cursive. It adds a personal touch and elegance to writing that print just can't match. It’s also a valuable skill that shouldn’t be lost! <3

[Acid 47]

had to learn cursive in school. I think it's really beneficial if you need to write really fast

[Dreambiscuit 9,873]

Cursive is not useless and I strongly advocate learning and using it. Language is a beautiful thing and the conveyance of it is an art form. Look at the different styles of script used throughout the world down through the ages. They are beautiful works of art, and art is necessary for civilization. Abandoning cursive is just another way of dumbing down the world by taking the most simplistic path and forgetting about everything else. Cursive is no more difficult than printing, and is a faster way of writing if you’d care to hold a stopwatch to it. It has elegance, graceful structure and is part of a world where beauty was once just as important as alacrity. Instead of dumbing down the world, have you ever seen anyone trying to smarten it up? Take that extra step, learn a better and fuller way of life, and keep cursive alive!

[Livealarm 488]

I always write in cursive. I just don't remember how to write using regular letters.

Ps. I speak two languages, and I use cursive for both of them.

Edited August 5, 2024 by Dupluna

[Envy 6,169]

Cursive does seem rather useless. I've never had to use it outside of signing my own name. Added on top of that, working a data entry job, where I had to read a lot of peoples' handwriting to capture important, precise information such as email addresses and the like, I hated cursive. I hate it so much. So many people wrote illegibly to begin with, the last thing I needed was people writing in blasted cursive, which was hard to read.

If we're going to be made to learn to write in a style for no reason, might as well make it the style of illuminated manuscripts. That's so much cooler than cursive. lol

[Starlight Serenade 3,332]

When I was younger, I loved cursive writing because it was considered elegant and provided a fast way of writing, especially since people used quills and pens at the time. There were numerous books and penmanship sections in classes that taught us how to sign perfectly, which I found fascinating. However, as time went on, I found little use for cursive in any of the jobs or programs I was involved in. It seems that the younger generation doesn't even know what cursive is. Recently, when I signed my name, some kids thought I was writing in a different language. They told me they had no idea what it was and mentioned that it isn't taught in schools anymore. This makes sense, as everything is becoming digital, and signatures are no longer necessary. I recall signing financial documents, but now they just ask me to fill out digital forms and tap on the signature line, which auto-populates my name.

To me, cursive is a lost art, which is unfortunate because many important documents in the U.S., like the Constitution, are written in cursive. If future generations can't read cursive, they won't be able to fully appreciate these texts. However, with everything now available online in a simple format, I’m not sure how much it matters. I think some people will still continue to preserve cursive because it is unique.

[Igloostellar Snow 1,323]

I say at least learn how to write your name in cursive for signatures. Not to say I don't know how to write in cursive at all, but I'm...a bit of a perfectionist. For others, cursive may be quicker for them, but I try to make it PERFECT. If the cursive "s" I wrote looks a little like a cursive "r", I redo the entire word. Long story short, I write faster when I just write normally.

It's not useless. That's why signatures are in cursive! Everyone writes differently, and cursive is especially unique.

Edited August 8, 2024 by Interstellar Sketch