When I stepped into the Samcheong Park Library in Seoul, I saw the future. The simple building had a nice selection of books and a cafe where readers could enjoy coffee while gazing at the leaves outside. It was specifically designed without any latest technology.
"What's so innovative about that?" a librarian in Toronto asked when I showed her pictures. Innovation to her meant digital technology, like 3D printers. "Why couldn't they both be innovative?" I asked.
We are constantly told that innovation is the most important force in our economy, without which we would be left behind. But that fear of missing out has led us to fall into the false trappings of innovation over truly innovative ideas that may be simpler and more effective. This mindset implies that if you just buy the new thing, you have innovated! Each year, businesses and individuals run around like broken toy robots, trying to figure out their strategy for the latest buzzword equipment.
At best, this is a waste of resources. Devices are bought, used and abandoned, as the technology's capabilities fall short of its promise. But at its worst, this approach can truly cause damage. Schools cut field trips to purchase tablets with few proven benefits. Companies that applied AI into hiring have actually strengthened gender and racial prejudices.
True innovation isn't just some magic devices. It is a continuing process of reflection and reassessment, which often means adopting "old" ideas and tools in a new context, or even returning to methods that worked in the past. Adjusted properly, these rearview（后视的） innovations have proved as transformative as novel technologies.
Look no farther than the streets of New York, which have been redesigned recently to accommodate cyclists with car-free zones. The idea isn't new. It was created half a century ago, with the aim of bringing cities back to their residents. And while e-reader sales have been exploding, Penguin just announced it would publish tiny printed books, an ideal solution for a market demanding both convenience and physicality.
A team in Norway recently conducted in-depth research on writing by hand and typing on a keyboard.
The team invited 36 university students who had to either write or type words displayed on a screen. The study participants used a digital pen to write in cursive （草书） on a touchscreen, and they used one finger on a keyboard to type. The researchers used a special cap with 256 sensors. This cap was worn by the students, and their brain activity was recorded for five seconds each time they were asked to write or type.
"We show that when writing by hand, brain connectivity patterns are far more complex than when typewriting on a keyboard," says Professor Audrey van der Meer, the team leader. "Such widespread brain connectivity is known to be important for memory formation and for encoding （编码） new information and, therefore, is beneficial for learning." The researchers also note that even though the participants used digital pens for writing in the study, they believe the findings would be similar if the participants used an ink pen and paper.
"We've shown that the differences in brain activity are related to the careful forming of the letters when writing by hand while making more use of the senses. Since it's the movement of the fingers carried out when forming letters that promotes brain connectivity, writing in print also has similar benefits for learning as cursive writing," Audrey adds. "This also explains why children who have learned to write and read on a tablet can have difficulty differentiating between letters that are mirror images of each other, such as 'b' and 'd'. They haven't felt with their bodies what it feels like to produce those letters."
Considering handwritten note-taking is becoming less common in educational settings, the researchers advocate for more opportunities for students to write by hand. "There's some evidence that students learn more and remember better when taking handwritten lecture notes, while using a computer with a keyboard may be more pragmatic when writing a long text or essay," Audrey concludes.
