i was thinking about making a post about the importance of learning cursive handwriting (historical documents, neurological benefits) etc. but then i remembered how i learned cursive by my teachers guiding my hand. i realized that this is basically off limits in the U.S and this would be seen as very scandalous for a teacher to do but in most of the world its such a normal, innocent act for kids to learn how to write. a low touch culture literally kills a people so insidiously.
What do people who don’t know cursive use for a signature in the west? Do they just print their name? In my wife’s native language (non Latin alphabet), printing and signing your name are exactly the same.
You just print your name, yes. Your signature can technically be anything. My father just signed his initials for everything and I did also for the longest time. As long as you’re consistent about what you write, it’s not usually a problem. Some people who are not literate will still just write “X”
Most stuff that you’re signing also requires some form of ID, social security number, etc so it’s not like someone can just forge documents by writing your initials.
I actually used to sign my name handwritten properly. I never liked how it looked though, so I eventually simplified it to a few recognisable letters and some squiggles. It doesn’t have to be legible, it just needs to be a somewhat consistent mark.
i actually sign doing a squiggle, it’s not even always the same but it kind of follows a pattern, at some point it think it meant something but not it’s just an abstract shape lol