I think a world without a pencil is not a world I want to live in, but I also think a world without a pencil would be a pretty sad place. A world without pencils would be drastically different. People’s brains would work differently because there’s not that physical connection. I don’t even want to think about what it would be like if we didn’t write by hand. It’s a really good brain exercise and something that’s really good physically and mentally. Let’s hope that doesn’t happen. Let’s make that not happen.
Writing with a pencil is really freeing because, first of all, it erases. People are a lot more willing when it comes to writing with a pencil as opposed to a pen. They don’t think so much about it. They just kind of go.
Because pencils are so tactile, there are so many kinds of sensory factors about writing with a pencil—the smell, the sound, the feeling of wearing a pencil down and having to sharpen it again, the mess you make when you use an eraser. Those sorts of things make it a physical experience, even though all you’re doing is putting graphite on a piece of paper. That’s a really important aspect to realize and to recognize when you’re using a pencil.
If I were a pencil in this day and age, I would be really stubborn. I would be kind of mad about the fact that all these other modes of writing think they are better than me. I would be an old-fashioned, bitter pencil. I’d probably feel elitist. I’d probably be a bit angry. But maybe a pencil doesn’t have to be angry. Maybe if I were a pencil, I would be really stubborn. I would want people to still believe that technology can’t beat me, and maybe it can’t. I would just want people to remember that I’m pretty awesome, too, and that you can’t just replace me. You can’t replace pencils. It’s not going to happen. If I were a pencil, no computer could do what I do.
I think there is a pencil revolution happening right now, that the more advanced we get with technology, the more people crave analog writing and other older fascinations. They treat it more as a novelty and less as a necessity. It’s fun to use your hands, to actually do something with them besides typing. People want to do it because it’s pleasurable, it’s nice, and it’s physical. It’s not typing. It may not be something that people need to do every day, but it’s something people want to do more and more. For that reason, it’s making a comeback.
-Caroline Weaver
