2023年经济学人 在打字时代, 手写依然重要

 

    Culture

    文艺版块

    Johnson

    约翰逊专栏

    In an age of typing handwriting still matters在打字时代，手写依然很重要。

    Two and a half millennia¹ ago, Socrates complained that writing would harm students.

    两千五百年前，苏格拉底抱怨写字会伤害学生。

    With a way to store ideas permanently² and externally, they would no longer need to memorise³.

    有了这种将想法永久存储到外部的方法，学生们将不再需要记忆。

    It is tempting⁴ to dismiss him as an old man complaining about change.

    人们很容易对他的这种观点嗤之以鼻，认为他是一个抱怨变化的老人。

    Socrates did not have a stack of peer-reviewed science to make his case about the usefulness of learning concepts by heart.

    毕竟苏格拉底不能用一堆同行评议过的科学研究来证明熟记概念的有用性。

    Today a different debate is raging about the dangers of another technology—computers—and the typing people do on them.

    如今，关于另一项技术的另一场争论正在激烈进行，即计算机以及人们用计算机打字的危险。

    As primary-school pupils and PhD hopefuls return for a new school year in the northern hemisphere, many will do so with a greater-than-ever reliance on computers to take notes and write papers.

    随着北半球的小学生和博士生重返学校并开始新的学年，许多人将比以往任何时候都更加依赖计算机来做笔记和写论文。

    Some parents of younger students are dismayed that their children are not just encouraged but required to tote laptops to class.

    让一些低年级学生的家长感到失望的是，他们的孩子不仅被鼓励，而且被要求携带笔记本电脑上课。

    University professors complain of rampant⁶ distraction⁷ in classrooms, with students reading and messaging instead of listening to lectures.

    大学教授们抱怨说，教室里的走神现象非常严重，学生们上课时阅读资料和发消息，而不是听老师讲课。

    A line of research shows the benefits of an “innovation” that predates computers: handwriting.

    一系列研究表明了出现于计算机之前的一项“创新”的好处，这一创新就是手写。

    Studies have found that writing on paper can improve everything from recalling a random⁸ series of words to imparting a better conceptual grasp of complicated ideas.

    研究发现，在纸上写字有许多促进作用，比如让人更容易记住一连串随机的单词、更好地掌握复杂概念等等。

    For learning material by rote⁹, from the shapes of letters to the quirks¹⁰ of English spelling, the benefits of using a pen or pencil lie in how the motor and sensory¹¹ memory of putting words on paper reinforces that material.

    对于通过死记硬背来学习材料，比如学习字母的形状和无规则的英语拼写，使用钢笔或铅笔的好处在于，将单词写在纸上的运动记忆和感觉记忆可以强化对这一材料的记忆。

    The arrangement of squiggles on a page feeds into visual memory: people might remember a word they wrote down in French class as being at the bottom-left on a page, par⁵ exemple.

    纸上排列的弯曲笔画会进入视觉记忆：比如，人们可能记得他们在法语课上写下的一个单词在纸的左下角。

    One of the best-demonstrated advantages of writing by hand seems to be in superior note-taking.

    手写最明显的优势之一似乎是在做笔记方面。

    In a study from 2014 by Pam Mueller and Danny Oppenheimer, students typing wrote down almost twice as many words and more passages verbatim from lectures, suggesting they were not understanding so much as rapidly copying the material.

    在帕姆·穆勒和丹尼·奥本海默2014年发表的一项研究中，课堂上打字的学生写下了几乎两倍的单词和更多的逐字段落，这表明他们并不完全理解，只是在快速抄写材料。

    Handwriting—which takes longer for nearly all university-level students—forces note-takers to synthesise ideas into their own words.

    而手写--对于几乎所有大学水平的学生来说都更耗时--迫使记笔记的人将想法归纳成自己的语言。

    This aids conceptual understanding at the moment of writing.

    这有助于在写字时加强对概念的理解。

    But those taking notes by hand also perform better on tests when students are later able to study from their notes.

    但当下课后学生可以通过笔记来学习时，那些手写笔记的学生在考试中的表现更好。

    The effect even persisted when the students who typed were explicitly¹² instructed to rephrase the material in their own words.

    甚至当打字的学生得到明确的指示，要用自己的话重新表述材料时，这种效果仍然存在。

    The instruction was “completely ineffective” at reducing verbatim note-taking, the researchers note: they did not understand the material so much as parrot it.

    研究人员指出，指示在减少逐字记笔记方面“完全无效”：他们与其说是理解材料，不如说是鹦鹉学舌。

    Many studies have confirmed handwriting’s benefits, and policymakers have taken note.

    许多研究都证实了手写的好处，政策制定者也注意到了这一点。

    Though America’s “Common Core” curriculum from 2010 does not require handwriting instruction past first grade (roughly age six), about half the states since then have mandated¹³ more teaching of it, thanks to campaigning by researchers and handwriting supporters.

    虽然从2010年开始，美国的“共同核心”课程不要求对一年级(大约六岁)以上的学生教授书写，但由于研究人员和书写支持者的不断争取，大约一半的州已经强制要求更多地教授书写。

    In Sweden there is a push for more handwriting and printed books and fewer devices.

    在瑞典，人们正在推动增加手写和印刷书籍，并减少电子设备。

    England’s national curriculum already prescribes teaching the rudiments¹⁴ of cursive by age seven.

    英格兰的国家课程已经规定在七岁之前教授连笔书写的基本知识。

    However, several school systems in America have gone so far as to ban most laptops.

    然而，美国的几个学校系统已经到了禁止大多数笔记本电脑的地步。

    This is too extreme.

    这太极端了。

    Some students have disabilities that make handwriting especially hard.

    一些学生有残疾，因此手写对他们来说尤其困难。

    Nearly all will eventually need typing skills.

    而且几乎所有人最终都需要打字技能。

    And typing can improve the quality of writing: being able to get ideas down quickly, before they are forgotten, can obviously be beneficial.

    打字也可以提高书写质量：能够在想法被遗忘之前迅速记下它们，显然是有益的。

    So can slowing down the speed of typing, says Dr Oppenheimer.

    奥本海默博士说，减慢打字速度也是有益的。

    Virginia Berninger, emeritus¹⁵ professor of psychology¹⁶ at the University of Washington, is a longtime advocate of handwriting.

    弗吉尼亚·伯宁格是华盛顿大学心理学荣誉退休教授，她一直倡导手写。

    But she is not a purist; she says there are research-tested benefits for “manuscript” print-style writing, for cursive (which allows greater speed) but also for typing (which is good practice for composing passages).

    但她并不是一个纯粹主义者，她说研究表明，“手稿”印刷式书写（注：字母和字母不连在一起）和连笔书写(可以提高速度)，以及打字(对于书写段落是一个好办法)都有好处。

    Since students spend more time on devices as they age, she argues for occasional “tuning up” of handwriting in later school years.

    由于随着年龄增长，学生们会花更多的时间使用电子设备，因此她主张在之后的学年里时不时地对手写进行“校准”。

    And perhaps even into adulthood¹⁷.

    这种校准可能持续到进入成年期。

    Johnson had not handwritten anything longer than a letter in decades before putting actual pen to paper to write this column’s first draft.

    在拿起笔写下本专栏文章的初稿之前，笔者已经好几十年没有手写过比一封信更长的东西了。

    Whether it made any difference to the outcome is a question that readers must decide.

    手写是否对文章产生了影响，这是必须由读者决定的问题。

    Socrates may or may not have had a point about the downsides of writing.

    关于写作的不利之处，苏格拉底的观点可能对也可能不对。

    But no one would remember, much less care, if his student Plato had not noted¹⁸ it down for the benefit of posterity¹⁹.

    但是，如果他的学生柏拉图没有为了后人而记录下他的言行，那么恐怕没有人会记得，更没有人会关心他的思想。

1 millennia   

n.一千年，千禧年

参考例句：

• For two millennia, exogamy was a major transgression for Jews. 两千年来，异族通婚一直是犹太人的一大禁忌。
• In the course of millennia, the dinosaurs died out. 在几千年的时间里，恐龙逐渐死绝了。

2 permanently   

adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地

参考例句：

• The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。

3 memorise   

vt.记住，熟记

参考例句：

• An actor must be able to memorise his lines.演员须善于熟记台词。
• I shall try to memorise all these phrases.我要熟记所有这些词组。

4 tempting   

a.诱人的, 吸引人的

参考例句：

• It is tempting to idealize the past. 人都爱把过去的日子说得那么美好。
• It was a tempting offer. 这是个诱人的提议。

5 par   

n.标准，票面价值，平均数量；adj.票面的，平常的，标准的

参考例句：

• Sales of nylon have been below par in recent years.近年来尼龙织品的销售额一直不及以往。
• I don't think his ability is on a par with yours.我认为他的能力不能与你的能力相媲美。

6 rampant   

adj.(植物)蔓生的；狂暴的，无约束的

参考例句：

• Sickness was rampant in the area.该地区疾病蔓延。
• You cannot allow children to rampant through the museum.你不能任由小孩子在博物馆里乱跑。

7 distraction   

n.精神涣散，精神不集中，消遣，娱乐

参考例句：

• Total concentration is required with no distractions.要全神贯注，不能有丝毫分神。
• Their national distraction is going to the disco.他们的全民消遣就是去蹦迪。

8 random   

adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动

参考例句：

• The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。
• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。

9 rote   

n.死记硬背，生搬硬套

参考例句：

• Learning by rote is discouraged in this school.这所学校不鼓励死记硬背的学习方式。
• He recited the poem by rote.他强记背诵了这首诗。

10 quirks   

n.奇事，巧合( quirk的名词复数 )；怪癖

参考例句：

• One of his quirks is that he refuses to travel by train. 他的怪癖之一是不愿乘火车旅行。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All men have their own quirks and twists. 人人都有他们自己的怪癖和奇想。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

11 sensory   

adj.知觉的，感觉的，知觉器官的

参考例句：

• Human powers of sensory discrimination are limited.人类感官分辨能力有限。
• The sensory system may undergo long-term adaptation in alien environments.感觉系统对陌生的环境可能经过长时期才能适应。

12 explicitly   

ad.明确地，显然地

参考例句：

• The plan does not explicitly endorse the private ownership of land. 该计划没有明确地支持土地私有制。
• SARA amended section 113 to provide explicitly for a right to contribution. 《最高基金修正与再授权法案》修正了第123条，清楚地规定了分配权。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

13 mandated   

adj. 委托统治的

参考例句：

• Mandated desegregation of public schools. 命令解除公立学校中的种族隔离
• Britain was mandated to govern the former colony of German East Africa. 英国受权代管德国在东非的前殖民地。

14 rudiments   

n.基础知识，入门

参考例句：

• He has just learned the rudiments of Chinese. 他学汉语刚刚入门。
• You do not seem to know the first rudiments of agriculture. 你似乎连农业上的一点最起码的常识也没有。

15 emeritus   

adj.名誉退休的

参考例句：

• "Perhaps I can introduce Mr.Lake Kirby,an emeritus professor from Washington University?"请允许我介绍华盛顿大学名誉教授莱克柯尔比先生。
• He will continue as chairman emeritus.他将会继续担任荣誉主席。

16 psychology   

n.心理，心理学，心理状态

参考例句：

• She has a background in child psychology.她受过儿童心理学的教育。
• He studied philosophy and psychology at Cambridge.他在剑桥大学学习哲学和心理学。

17 adulthood   

n.成年，成人期

参考例句：

• Some infantile actions survive into adulthood.某些婴儿期的行为一直保持到成年期。
• Few people nowadays are able to maintain friendships into adulthood.如今很少有人能将友谊维持到成年。

18 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

19 posterity   

n.后裔，子孙，后代

参考例句：

• Few of his works will go down to posterity.他的作品没有几件会流传到后世。
• The names of those who died are recorded for posterity on a tablet at the back of the church.死者姓名都刻在教堂后面的一块石匾上以便后人铭记。