Spring forward. Fall back.
With the clocks falling back an hour as "summer time" ends in Finland, it is a reminder at how stupid changing the time is. I wish that the times didn't change. Smallsteps was asking me about telling the time today, something that she has been able to do since she was a toddler. The questions weren't about how to tell the time, but the differences in the way it is said.
- Seven o five
- Five past seven
- A quarter to
A lot of her friends will only use "digital time" these days.
What was interesting was that a few hours later, I read a story about how many teens these days can't tell the time on an analogue clock. One teacher tested her students (13-15 year olds) after some were constantly asking how "long until" questions, despite there being a clock in the room. The pop-quiz test was the same that is expected of 8 year olds, and around five in each group were only able to tell the time when it was a flat hour.
The main reason for it (rather than blaming the influence of English like the teacher did) is that most kids have never had an analogue watch, many homes (like ours) don't have an analogue clock on a wall, and many kids are staring at their phones, which has become the clock also.
There is no need to tell analogue time.
But, while there is no need, what I read into it is how all these tools are changing our skills in ways that might not be that important individually, but together, might be meaningful. As I was saying to my daughter today, she isn't learning in order to pass the tests at school, she is learning how to learn so that once out of school, she can keep learning. Passing the tests is just a way to gauge progress and discover gaps.
But what I don't think a lot of people fully appreciate about having the tools (competitive cognitive artefacts) do the work for us, is that doing things ourselves* develops our brains. If we are constantly avoiding that development through the way we have set up our environment and behaviours as children, we are likely going to forego building a lot of the fundamental structural development that is required in later life. and this can affect many aspects of our life, from the way we are able to process math, or the way we are able to build relationships.
The cost of the "digital life" may have profound effects on society in some pretty disastrous ways. A lot of people might see this as part of our evolution in culture, but what is going to be interesting is when all that automation replaces most of what we do as humans and we are left to do what humans do. But, if our skills to "be human" are lessened to the point that we are unable to interact in healthy ways with others, what have we become as a species?
So, so many people I speak to about these things believe that their social skills are unaffected by the way they consume, because they "know" that there are dangers. Knowing there are dangers doesn't stop the impact of the behaviour though. Drug addicts know the dangers of the drugs they take, but they still take them, and they are still affected by them.
The consumer drug of choice is entertainment in my opinion. Where more and more, rather than spending time improving a skill, people are spending that time consuming something to occupy their mind. They might not intentionally look to avoid learning, but that is what they end up doing when they spend so much time being passively entertained. In the distant past, a lot of our "entertainment" was through the development of our skills themselves, whether that be designing a new tool, or knitting a jumper. We entertained ourselves by doing something useful. Now, it is *just for entertainment.
The clocks turn back an hour, which has an effect on me, because I go by Hive blockchain time. Now, the latest I am able to post an article and still have it count as on a particular day, is 2am, instead of 3am. That might not seem like a problem, but there are days when I have cut it very close - down to the minute prior. So, it is something to watch out for. The irony isn't lost on me that I spend a huge amount of time, in the digital landscape.
And there are losses.
Taraz
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Change is definitely another one that is hard. People these days really struggle with giving change when someone pays with cash. Actually, what really throws them is when you give extra change because you want to get a fixed amount back. Like say your bill is 11.23 so you give them 16.23 because you want to get a five dollar bill back. They can't handle it.
Yeah, I have noticed this too. I assume because most people use cards, combined with people's simple math abilities have dropped off a cliff.
Changing time might have made sense when our economies were primarily driven by farming, but these days this changing of time is just stupid and I think counter productive.
It is kind of hard to sell people on the need to learn how to learn when the answer is right there in Google or Chat GPT... The society is doomed to become dumber and dumber over time. I keep thinking that the movie Idiocracy is 100% visionary...
Even in farming tines, does it really matter? The sub doesn't actually change.
And yep. I predict dumber and dumber to the point we are incapable of even the simplest of action
I think the saddest part is that the 'fully digital' generations (say 2020 and above) may have no idea just how much they might have missed out if their parents don't make a conscious effort to pass relevant life skills to them. There are certainly losses associated with spending one's entire childhood looking at screens or being served by machines
I think it isn't just the experiences they miss out on, but what has happened to their brain structure. It is like engineering for mentally challenged people, instead of for improvement.
Time is charging with the evolvement of technology. It is actually not that child fault as you have said it is the world in which they find theirselves make it seem so. Imagine a child who is only used to the digital clock asking to talk about analogue.
I really agree with the point about how our digital habits are quietly changing the way we think and learn. It’s true that many young people and even adult today depend so much on screens that they lose touch with basic skills like reading analogue time. What touched me most was the reminder that learning isn’t just about passing tests,it’s about building the mind.
The truth is, we’re becoming too used to being entertained instead of improving ourselves, and that’s something we all need to reflect on.
Yes - we are to blame. My daughter's life has been very analogue so far, and as a result, she is pretty bloody intelligent. It isn't just genetics, because nurture plays a role in the way our brains grow.
An interesting way to look at improvement, is that it also contains "prove" in the word. It is proof of development. Entertainment requires no proving, it is a place where people can just be themselves, even if that means not growing at all.
Relying on smartphones for telling time seems to be erasing basic skills like reading an analog clock. I wonder about what other important skills might disappear if we don't make an effort to practice them.
Face to face communication has also dropped off a cliff.
Nowadays, analog clocks are not seen very often. I also saw my students sometimes not understanding analog clocks even though my students are at the elementary level. However, the current education system is such that students only learn to leave school and not for their own skills or knowledge.
My daughter got her first smart phone this year, because we were forced due to the change in her school. However, her life is still very much analogue. Kids need to learn basic skills, before they are given options for shortcuts.
I totally agree with you on why changing your clocks feel so pointless and also you made a point about kids not reading or not be able to read analog clocks and that is true. My nephew always check his phone for time and not the clock.
But it's so interesting how the digital era has began to shape our lives and skills. I wonder how being unable to no longer understand this things affect how we think long term. I also commend what you said about schools teaching how to read analog time more, maybe it will help these kids.
I suspect a huge amount. The on-demand lifestyle has already led to kids being far more instant gratifying, so their investment possibility has decreased significantly. Financial and skill wise.
Yeah this is very crazy. Talking about things struggling with analog clock, these are shown how our technology has taken over. Digital life have taken over skills that we don't even notice were so important to us or ever existed. Nowadays we are learning to learn, just as you told your daughter, this feels so important now.
I want to know which kind of skills do you think kids should focus on now in order to make the best of their time?
Interpersonal communication and emotional self-control.
Even me, I won't lie, those clock changes also messes me up sometimes and I think for a while now I haven't thought about kids not using the analog clock but I feel it's justifiable because of the use of phone everywhere. And you also talk about how tools can change our brains, yes that is true, those analog clock can feel like old school. And do you feel that we lose more skills to digital life since people don't care about the analog?
I think we lose skills because we care more about convenience, than improvement.
I like having a wall clock and an analogue watch. I have wall clocks in the living room, which I can see from the kitchen, so easy to glance up and check the time, knowing the potatoes need fifteen minutes. I don't have to get anything out, press, enter passcodes, fumble with floury or sticky hands. Same with a watch, easy to discreetly check the time and know when to bring a meeting to a close.
Cheers.