In the Digital Age, Don’t Forget to Use Your Digits

In a world increasingly defined by screens, swipes, and algorithms, it’s easy to forget the power—and wisdom—of our own hands.

Cartoonist and educator Lynda Barry once said, “In the digital age, don’t forget to use your digits.” She goes on to reflect that making things by hand is not just a nostalgic hobby, but a crucial part of how human intelligence works. “This is what the makers and users of artificial ‘intelligence’ miss,” Barry writes. “Human intelligence is an embodied intelligence.”

This couldn’t feel more relevant than it did the other day, watching one of my seniors interact with a delivery robot. It wasn’t just about giving the machine commands or programming routines. It was about nuance—tiny, almost imperceptible shifts in the way she moved her hands as she worked, tweaks that guided her thinking in real time. The feedback loop wasn’t just brain-to-hand; it was hand-to-brain. Her gestures weren’t robotic—they were thoughtful, intuitive, and uniquely human.

That’s what we risk losing if we over-index on the digital and forget the tactile. There’s a kind of intelligence that can only be developed through making, touching, shaping—whether it's with clay, code, or the careful steering of a robot arm.

So yes, let’s innovate. Let’s explore what technology can do. But let’s also remember to build with our hands, not just our heads. Because it turns out, they’re not so separate after all.

The Minibot

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