No thanks! Handwriting thank you notes is among fastest disappearing skills in modern Britain

No thanks! Handwriting thank you notes is among fastest disappearing skills in modern Britain

• Survey results suggest that a written thank you note is obsolete
  
• The use of dictionaries and mental arithmetic is in decline
• Reading a map or going to the library is also considered old fashioned
  

By Daily Mail Reporter

PUBLISHED: 14:21 EST, 14 January 2013 | UPDATED: 18:18 EST, 14 January 2013

Some would say it is the only acceptable response to receiving a gift, or enjoying an evening at a friend's home.

But the practice of handwriting 'thank you' notes is among the fastest disappearing skills in modern Britain.

These days people are more likely just to send a text or email.

Obsolete: The practice of sending thank you notes is one of the fastest disappearing practices in Britain according to a survey by insurance firm Churchill

And the spread of technology is not just killing off traditional etiquette, it is stunting our mental faculties, research suggests.

Using a dictionary and mental arithmetic are two other skills being usurped by technology.

A survey of 1,000 adults found 67 per cent thought the ability to hand write a thank you card had died out.

Old fashioned: Consulting a dictionary or reference book is a thing of the past according to many people surveyed

Websites such as Wikipedia have taken over the need to look at a dictionary or proper reference book, according to 61 per cent of those questioned.

THE FASTEST DISAPPEARING SKILLS

What skills are becoming obsolete according to people surveyed by Churchill:

• Handwriting a thank you note
• Using a dictionary or reference book
• Mental arithmetic
  
• Reading a map
• Going to the library
• Playing board games
• Sending a postcard

And almost four in ten believe the ability to do mental arithmetic has suffered as people can readily use a calculator on their phone or computer screen.

Satnavs were blamed for the fact that the ability to read a map is another skill that is dying out.

Going to the library, playing board games and sending postcards are other traditional activities being killed off by technological advances, the study suggests.

Matt Owen of Churchill insurance, who commissioned the survey, said: ‘Handwritten thank you cards are still nicer than an impersonal email.’