Philosophy
So, the bigger of the short people is learning cursive and has that chart we've all seen countless times displaying the right way to write the letters. But is there a right way to write? Sure, we all have our own handwriting, but on what basis should we judge handwriting? It does seem a bit strange to say, "This is the right way" when I make mine differently and don't feel as if I'm not actually writing, say, a capital G or writing it wrong.
There seems to be three options:
(1) Handwriting Platonism: these folks see the chart as positing the Form of cursive, that is, that perfect, unchanging nature of cursive handwriting and each person's own script partakes of the Form, but is an imperfect representation. Better handwriting is handwriting that is more like the ideal.
(2) Handwriting Subjectivism: there is no such thing as right and wrong, there is simply the way each of us writes. Better or worse is just I like it better or I don't, or it is functionally more useful, easier to read or not. It is your handwriting, write as you will, who is to tell you how to make a lower case q.
(3) Handwriting Pluralism: A middle path in which there are multiple ways to acceptably right a cursive S, but not all ways are allowable. There is a range that you need to fall in, but outside that range is unacceptable.
So, which one is right or have I missed the real answer?
- Sex And Handwriting
I was doing some grading and TheWife was looking over my shoulder. Without looking at the names, she was able to correctly determine the sex of the writer in 29 out of 30 cases. While she is quite a detail-oriented person, my guess is that this experiment...
- Why The Ocean Is Blue, Multiculturalism, And The Backwards S
Soul searcher asks, "Why is my glass of water clear and colorless but the ocean is clear and blue?"The commonsense response is that the surface of the water acts as a mirror, and what is this aqua reflector pointing at? The big blue sky. Reflected sunlight...
- What An Absurd Debate...elimination Of Cursive Writing
"State Board of Education will debate role of cursive handwriting on curriculums" by Suzanne Perez Tobias November 11th, 2012 The Wichita Eagle Should children born into a world of computers, iPads, smartphones and e-cards have to...
- Thoughts On Those Medieval Manuscripts
"The hands that betray the men of ideas" by Miriam Cosic November 21, 2011 The Australian Take writing. Until quite recently, few people had the education to tackle it. Scribes existed in pre-literate societies, professionals who kept records and took...
- Walter William Marseille...analytics Of Handwriting
Breaking news in the description of the human psyche...by handwriting analysis? Graphology (handwriting analysis), long in the same U.S. doghouse with such pseudosciences as astrology, palmistry, phrenology may not be so phony as scientists have thought...
Philosophy
The Normativity of Handwriting
So, the bigger of the short people is learning cursive and has that chart we've all seen countless times displaying the right way to write the letters. But is there a right way to write? Sure, we all have our own handwriting, but on what basis should we judge handwriting? It does seem a bit strange to say, "This is the right way" when I make mine differently and don't feel as if I'm not actually writing, say, a capital G or writing it wrong.
There seems to be three options:
(1) Handwriting Platonism: these folks see the chart as positing the Form of cursive, that is, that perfect, unchanging nature of cursive handwriting and each person's own script partakes of the Form, but is an imperfect representation. Better handwriting is handwriting that is more like the ideal.
(2) Handwriting Subjectivism: there is no such thing as right and wrong, there is simply the way each of us writes. Better or worse is just I like it better or I don't, or it is functionally more useful, easier to read or not. It is your handwriting, write as you will, who is to tell you how to make a lower case q.
(3) Handwriting Pluralism: A middle path in which there are multiple ways to acceptably right a cursive S, but not all ways are allowable. There is a range that you need to fall in, but outside that range is unacceptable.
So, which one is right or have I missed the real answer?
- Sex And Handwriting
I was doing some grading and TheWife was looking over my shoulder. Without looking at the names, she was able to correctly determine the sex of the writer in 29 out of 30 cases. While she is quite a detail-oriented person, my guess is that this experiment...
- Why The Ocean Is Blue, Multiculturalism, And The Backwards S
Soul searcher asks, "Why is my glass of water clear and colorless but the ocean is clear and blue?"The commonsense response is that the surface of the water acts as a mirror, and what is this aqua reflector pointing at? The big blue sky. Reflected sunlight...
- What An Absurd Debate...elimination Of Cursive Writing
"State Board of Education will debate role of cursive handwriting on curriculums" by Suzanne Perez Tobias November 11th, 2012 The Wichita Eagle Should children born into a world of computers, iPads, smartphones and e-cards have to...
- Thoughts On Those Medieval Manuscripts
"The hands that betray the men of ideas" by Miriam Cosic November 21, 2011 The Australian Take writing. Until quite recently, few people had the education to tackle it. Scribes existed in pre-literate societies, professionals who kept records and took...
- Walter William Marseille...analytics Of Handwriting
Breaking news in the description of the human psyche...by handwriting analysis? Graphology (handwriting analysis), long in the same U.S. doghouse with such pseudosciences as astrology, palmistry, phrenology may not be so phony as scientists have thought...