A survey of Chinese youths has found that 83% of them have struggled to remember the precise format of their language’s characters when writing, old school style, with a pen or pencil. Computers and phones are to blame.
The so-called “character amnesia” is caused by the modern tech world’s dependence on Western alphabet-based systems, leading some to fear for the future of the country’s writing system. It could also jeopardise the future careers of the Western world’s bad tattoo artists.
But in a rather ironic twist, phones are also coming to the rescue—”When I can’t remember, I will take out my cellphone and find it (the character) and then copy it down” said 21-year-old student Li Hanwei. So we’re not sure if computers and phones are supposed to be good or evil today. [Physorg]
