Are "old" skills and technologies worth learning??

[mjr]

I think this may make for interesting debate/discussion.

In the "technology age" and/or "digital age", is it worth the time to learn "old" skills and/or technologies? Especially for someone who works in technology, writing programs.

For instance, I recently purchased a book on learning Pitman 2000 Shorthand. I figure this might be a good skill to have for various reasons. I have also gained an interest in Morse code. I don't have a transmitter or receiver, but just knowing the "dits" and "dahs" (dots and dashes) used to make up the letters seems like it might be useful. I think morse code is still taught in the military.

Though I get the vibe that some people believe these are "antiquated" and not worth learning. My only real rebuttal to that is typing. How long have people been typing?

[Kal]

I'd say that if you're interested in learning the skill and you enjoy putting the time into it, it's not a waste of time - it's a hobby.
As a minor aside, I recently learnt how to make chainmail and ended up making a five metre length of wire into what's basically a chainmail hanky. Not entirely useful or relevant to my life, but quite fun to do.

[csquared]

I think this may make for interesting debate/discussion.

You are right about that. But I am thinking in a different manner. Have that discussion with a 50+ year old IT manager during a job interview. It will probably get you a lot of mileage. That could also be the item on your resume that gets you noticed.

[mjr]

You are right about that. But I am thinking in a different manner. Have that discussion with a 50+ year old IT manager during a job interview. It will probably get you a lot of mileage. That could also be the item on your resume that gets you noticed.

The Shorthand, or the Morse Code??

Though if I get good enough at either (especially the shorthand) I might just put it on the ole resume...though I have a friend in technology who would probably disagree with that strategy...

[SongsOfDragons]

I would love to learn shorthand. It would just be useful to take notes quickly.

[Chanlin]

If nothing else: any old skill is worth learning simply for the brainpower/connections/learning you gain from it. Morse code isn't just Morse code. It requires you to train your ears and your brain to think a certain way which in itself is a useful skill to have.

While the skill may not be used anymore, the ability for you to be able to adapt and learn is always a good skill to have, which you constantly have to keep your brain doing.

[fireheart]

I do believe that shorthand is still used in terms of stenography and such, so it's not entirely a dead art. My mum wanted to learn shorthand as well, simply to take notes quicker.

[Pixilated]

I would love to learn shorthand. It would just be useful to take notes quickly.

I was thinking something similar. You never know when something like shorthand might come in handy. We have a teacher who starts talking (often) 10 minutes before the official start of class and talks right through the entire two-hour span. Nor does she veer off-topic; virtually everything she says is important. I am managing OK because of my 10 years as a reporter, but I know it's driving a lot of the other students totally crazy trying to keep up with her.

I'd say that if you're interested in learning the skill and you enjoy putting the time into it, it's not a waste of time - it's a hobby.
As a minor aside, I recently learnt how to make chainmail and ended up making a five metre length of wire into what's basically a chainmail hanky. Not entirely useful or relevant to my life, but quite fun to do.

Hey, these days, knowing how to make chainmail might come in handy sooner than you expected!
Seriously, though, I agree absolutely with you and with what Chanlin said. I've always believed that all learning has value.

[AccountingDrone]

And here I was going to mention my ability to take a sheep and an acre of woods and a compliant hubby who knows how to build stuff and end up with clothing ... so you are meaning something not quite as old as I was thinking

[Seshat]

Blacksmithing, animal husbandry, farrier work and agriculture with hand tools are still useful. So are pottery, beekeeping, food preservation, clothmaking, fibre production ...


For more recent skills which are lost but would be useful: right now, if we wanted to put a man on the moon, we would have to reinvent things. The Smithsonian does have the duplicate of Apollo 11 preserved, so some of the reinvention would be 'mere' reverse engineering ... but we've lost some of that technology. The people who knew how, died, and it wasn't all recorded adequately.

[Ironclad Alibi]

There are several old skills I find very handy. These include adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing in my head and on paper.

[auntiem]

Count me as another one who thought you meant stuff like sewing, knitting, canning, gathering viable seeds from your plants for next season...
I for one think that everyone can and should learn to cross-stitch. It isn't difficult or expensive and you end up with something unique. For example, I just dug up my Thanksgiving xstitch quote (As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly) and in December will hang my holiday quote (Now I have a machine gun Ho Ho Ho). I also have an "adapted" sampler above my mantle that I am very proud of and looks old fashioned and "normal" until you take a closer look.
Bonus, you can make your own patterns by pixilating any picture. Or do what I do and buy cheap pattern books at used bookstores and create your own out of portions of the various parts.

[Sapphire Silk]

I learned touch typing in high school on an electric typewriter. It's one of the most useful skills I learned as a kid. I can type about 50 words a minute with minimal errors. My mom, who was a secretary in the '60's, could type 90 with NO errors. She also knew short hand, and used it for lots of things much of her life.

I'm finding that applying dressings to wounds is becoming a lost art among nurses. We've hyperspecialized; only wound care nurses and OR nurses (and old ER nurses) seem to know how to do it anymore.

[Chromatix]

Basic car and bicycle maintenance. Doing the "easy" things yourself can save a heck of a lot of money. I got the cost of running a bicycle down to a few inner-tubes per year and a pair of brake blocks every two years, while riding it nearly every day to get to university and the supermarket.

I just came across someone who was told that the engine computer in their 20+ year old car needed to be replaced - at a significant cost. He looked over the computer itself, spotted a couple of electrolytic capacitors that had expired by leaking, replaced those, and the car ran properly again. He'd got the idea from fixing an identical type of problem on his similarly old Macs.

[It shouldn't]

Count me as another one who thought you meant stuff like sewing, knitting, canning, gathering viable seeds from your plants for next season...
.

Hubby, who was raised a city boy, was freaking out right before Y2K. I told him, no worries, just stick with me. My parents didn't get electricity til I was 5 years old and even after that they did things the old fashioned way.