Letter writing is being preserved by ape brains

It (vinyl records) was more fun precisely because it was less efficient.

 

—David Sax, The Revenge of Analog

 

 

Greeting cards and letters are the most inefficient way to communicate these days.

 

They take time out of your day.

 

They require a lot more tools.

 

We have to wait days or weeks for them to be sent and responded to.

 

They aren’t free.

 

But that is what makes them so much fun.

 

It’s fun to feel a sense of accomplishment and gifting as you place a sealed envelope in your mailbox.

 

It’s fun to feel a sense of wonder when you spot a friendly letter amongst the ads and bills.

 

It is my opinion that our love for handwritten communication will only die when our sense of fun dies. As long as the tools are available to us and there are people willing to join us on the journey, we will keep write on exchanging our thoughts and affections scribbled on dead tree pulp.

 

If our ape brains weren’t amused by this tradition of swapping sub-par samples of handwriting we would have quit it long ago.

 

You can find my contribution to the chimp noddle tradition at the link below:

 

https://gracearant.com/product-category/all-cards/ 

 

To your card giving,

 

Grace Arant