Thanks to technology and how fast things are moving forward, many skills that were once essential in daily life have become obsolete. Curious about which skills have fallen by the wayside? This article highlights 18 such skills that are no longer relevant in our modern society, shedding light on how much our way of life has evolved.
Accurate Spelling
There are more than 30 million people currently using Grammarly to check their spelling and grammar. Thanks to the aid of automatic spell checkers, people don’t put as much emphasis now on learning to spell properly. Accurate spelling without the use of grammar tools is becoming a rarity.
Writing Checks
Knowing how to write a check used to be a skill that everyone had to learn as soon as they opened their first bank account. According to Yahoo! Finance, “almost half of Americans have not written a single check in the past year.” Writing checks isn’t important anymore.
Entertain Kids
Keeping kids entertained used to be an art. You’d have to make up games, sing songs, and make toys come to life. People entertain kids nowadays by putting an electronic device in front of them so they can stream shows from services like Netflix, where you can make a profile just for kids.
Good Handwriting
Back in the day, good handwriting skills were essential for life because we were always having to communicate by pen and paper to others. But nowadays, having good handwriting isn’t important. Most of our correspondence is done digitally. Having good handwriting isn’t something people pride themselves on anymore.
Letter Writing
Not too long ago, having good letter-writing skills was very important. Writing the date in the right place and putting the addresses on the correct sides of the letters were all things we had to know. But letter writing is drastically losing popularity so people don’t learn these skills anymore.
Adding and Subtracting
Before the introduction of pocket calculators and then smartphones, people had to be good at mental math. Knowing how to add and subtract was essential to getting good deals at stores and not getting ripped off at markets. People don’t put as much effort into this now.
Percentages
When we go into supermarkets, we often see deals like 30% off. Knowing how to get a percentage from a number used to be something we had to do in our heads. But since the introduction of calculators on smartphones and Google searches, the work has been done for us.
Holding Face-to-Face Conversations
Holding a face-to-face conversation used to be something that we would have to work hard to do. But many face-to-face conversations have been replaced with digital conversations, which are generally shorter and more to the point. We also have our devices as a crutch if the conversation goes dry.
New Recipes
Coming up with a new recipe used to mean flicking through recipe books, copying a recipe from a friend or family member, or just being inventive in the kitchen. Innovation in the kitchen no longer exists, however, as there are recipes for just about everything on the internet.
Ideas
Before the digital age began, getting an idea used to be something innovative. Nowadays, you can look on the internet for ideas and inspiration for any project. What used to be products of hours of work and an individual’s imagination are now stolen ideas and copies from the internet.
Finding Information
Finding information used to be an art. You had to look through books, ask people, and visit museums to gather information. Nowadays, searching for information is as easy as typing in a question or a few keywords into a search engine or talking to a smart device.
Finding Good Vacation Deals
In the past, finding good vacation deals used to be a skill. We had to go to travel agents and look for information in brochures. But nowadays, looking for good vacation deals is easy. You can use apps to find the best deals and save money.
Sewing
Another skill that’s quickly becoming irrelevant to our everyday lives is sewing. Thanks to fast fashion, it has become cheaper and a lot less of a hassle for people to throw items away and buy new clothes than it is to sit and spend time sewing buttons on and changing zippers.
Memorizing Phone Numbers
Not too long ago, everyone knew their phone number by heart and the numbers of their closest friends and family members. But memorizing phone numbers isn’t something we need to do in today’s modern world. Contact lists on smartphones have rendered committing numbers to memory redundant.
Cooking from Scratch
In the past, it was almost impossible to find ready-made meals. Everything was made from scratch. But this is far from the case today. We make so many meals using pre-made sauces, pre-chopped vegetables, and ready-to-eat food from cans. Making a tasty meal has never been simpler.
Knitting
Learning to knit used to be an essential skill. This helped so many to make items of clothing for their families to wear, such as sweaters, scarves, hats, gloves, and the like. But knitting by hand is not something you’ll find young people doing now. Buying clothes is much easier.
Paying Attention
“A recent U.K. survey found that about half of adults think their attention spans are getting shorter, and plenty of teachers say the same thing is happening with kids,” says Time Magazine. Paying attention is no longer important today as information moves faster than ever before.
Comprehension
Having good comprehension skills used to be an essential skill for life. The way we learned things was by reading books and understanding and deciphering what we read. But nowadays, the internet is full of tutorials and explanations that help you pretend to understand something when, really, you don’t.
