Aging Gracefully

We used to write letters. Now we voice-text emojis or use ChatGPT. What happened?

It all began by carving pictures into cave walls with a stick. I think that’s a buffalo. Or a chicken. Now we speak into our phones and AI offers us the entire database of everything ever written down, summarized, and appearing right before our eyes. How did we get here and more importantly, will we ever do anything on our own again?

I’m old enough to remember writing letters, but just missed cave art. So let’s start with letters.

Written language was invented by the Sumerians in Mesopotamia (now Iraq) in 3,400 BCE. Sumerians, who got their name from their love of summer salads (I made that up), used language for record-keeping.

The alphabet was created several hundred years later and we were off and writing. If you wanted to communicate in a written form, you took out a quill, some ink, and wrote on a portable flat surface. Then, you sent the portable flat surface to someone. In most cases, except for “Game of Thrones,” that flat surface was paper.

Writing flourished from that point, from the bible to love letters to a fairy princess. Emperors did it. Scholars did it. Philosophers did it. Thousands of years later, Guttenberg came along (not the one from the movies “Look Who’s Talking” and “Police Academy” but the other one). Typesetting of individual letters was created which were pressed into a piece of paper. The printing press created mass production of books, newspapers, pamphlets (remember the pamphlet?), and other printed material. But people still wrote letters.

Fast forward about 400 years and the typewriter was invented. Ah the typewriter. The machine everyone love-hated, the thing that introduced the era of crumpling up paper and throwing it into a trash can - which, believe it or not was called a “waste-paper basket” back then.

Also, crumpling up paper and throwing it into a trash can was how the sport of basketball was invented. James Naismith was a bad typist and frustrated writer. The typewriter made it easier for everyone to write quickly in a legible way. Especially with “Wite-out.” That’s what it was called. You brushed white liquid from a small bottle over mistakes. Then re-typed. Seems ancient. And people still wrote letters.

I wrote letters. To friends. To lovers. It was what you did and it seemed romantic. Shakespeare would be proud.

Then, personal computers. Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. The PC/Mac and “word software” led to writing that could be edited so much more easily. Hello cut & paste. Writing became a breeze. In the same decade came email and the internet. You could write someone a letter and have it arrive immediately. You could Google how to write a letter and email it. No more waiting for snail mail or the messenger on horseback to deliver your letter. People were still writing letters, but less frequently.

Then, text, IM and social media. The written letter was deader than a doornail. (What is a doornail?) But people were still typing, even if it was with their thumbs or in some cases, one hunting finger.

And now in 2025, who has time to even type shorthand (LMAO) or emoji’s with your thumbs? It’s voice text, voice search and voice ChatGPT. “Um, ChatGPT, can you write a text to my contractor telling him that I’m not happy with the work. Make it passive-aggressive and nice, but strong.”

And that’s if we even bother to use words. People actually just say into their phones, “Crying emoji” or “Happy face.”

This gives me a sad face.

I don’t know what’s next. But I get the feeling convenience will rule the day. Maybe just blinking or thinking something will bring it to life. No need for voices, thumbs, hands or pen & paper.

This is the end of the story that I’ve typed. I have to go. I have to think a text to my dog walker.