Grandpa was a quiet man.  He performed a variety of jobs: truckdriver, real estate agent, refrigeration technician and car wash manager along the way. I trusted and admired him and appreciated his life right up until his death in 1985.  Born in 1911, he lived for 74 years and saw a lot of technology change over that lifespan. 

Grandpa was not a Luddite; he appreciated technology improvement and the quality of life benefits it brought.  I remember his clear advice to purchase the best possible item because it would provide greater satisfaction and longer use, making its’ cost less over time.

Grandpa embraced the new, but not just because it was new.  He was discerning on what he acquired because he never had a lot of discretionary income.  That said, when he searched for something new, he did it thoughtfully, carefully and then decided with conviction and didn’t look back.

Grandpa died before the general availability of the internet which didn’t occur in the U.S. until the early 1990s. He was certainly not around to see the explosion of social media or the popularity of blogs.  So, would I ask my grandfather how to blog?

Hmmmm…..

There are more than a few people who base their life and important decisions on spiritual texts and practices well over 1,000 years old.  In fact, there are people who dedicate their lives to the study of antiquity; especially art and philosophy, to better understand our species progress and to project our future based on the behaviors and values that persist over time.

Going even further back in history, it’s thought that we homo-sapiens developed language almost immediately, (see When Did Ancient Humans Start to Speak? – The Atlantic) and the oldest evidence of the written word is over 5,000 years ago which was used by Sumerian scribes in 3200 B.C to document business transactions in ancient Iraq. (The World’s Oldest Writing – Archaeology Magazine).

Would I ask my grandfather how to blog?  Our very history as a species suggests we have learned and cognitively developed over millenniums based on our ability to communicate.  So, YES, I would ask my grandfather how to write and communicate more effectively.

And based on my previous post, The Thin Veil, I still have the opportunity to ask him.

I’m curious, would you ask your grandparents how to write and communicate more effectively? And, if so, why?