News outlets made much of a decision by Finland to phase out the teaching of handwriting in school. Research has shown that handwriting enhances motor abilities and is intimately linked to the brain’s cognitive skills. According to a study published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society, a child’s ability to remember and then draw a visually presented shape is indicative of his writing and reading tests. In other words, handwriting helps develop our critical thinking. And to set the record straight on Finland, they will still teach students how to write but with less emphasis on cursive, or joined-up, handwriting and more time devoted to typing. More importantly, learning handwriting may help read doctor’s prescriptions: there may still be a few old-schools ones out there, too.