February 16, 2026·4 min read·FREE ESSAY
In the Face of Uncertainty, Man Always Evolved
No matter what was thrown, he adapted
In the early 1300s, being a scribe was one of the most coveted jobs.
They were highly-skilled professionals who produced manuscripts by hand. If you wanted a copy of a book, you hired a scribe.
A good example was a surviving contract from 1265 from the archives of the University of Bologna which stated:
"I, Giovanni, do hereby agree to pay the scribe Nicolaus the sum of four libri for the copying of the Digestum Vetus. The said Nicolaus shall provide his own parchment of the finest quality, free from holes or stains. He shall write in a clear, legible littera bononiensis, thirty lines to the column, and shall not leave excessive margins to cheat the page count. If he errs in the text, he shall correct it at his own expense before the final payment is rendered."
Nicolaus, the scribe, was the human processor, battling error and fatigue to create a new manuscript.
Then in 1440, the world turned over its head.
Johannes Guttenberg introduced his invention. A printing press that now produced manuscripts more efficiently.
While the scribes could only produce 2 manuscripts per year, the press could generate up-to 500 within the same timeframe.
For the scribes, this was a nightmare. Technology had come to take their jobs away, and it was doing a much better job.
There was resistance. For instance, Johannes Trithemius, an Abbot (scholar), criticized the press, stating that the printed book had no soul.
"I have told my brothers: 'Do not be deceived by the speed of the press.' A brother asked me, 'Abbot, why write on skin when paper is so cheap?' And I replied: 'The scribe who ceases to write because of the press is no true lover of the word. Writing is a penance; it is a prayer. A machine cannot pray. The printed book is a deceptive beauty that will crumble into dust, while our parchment remains.'"
In Praise of Scribes
However, in other parts of the world, the printing press was celebrated. It was the invention that transformed man from a copyist to a creator.
Humanist scholar Erasmus of Rotterdam would call the printing press “a 'silver river' that carries the water of life to all who thirst for knowledge."
In the face of existential crisis and fear that technology taking away the scribes’ livelihood, there was a different view altogether.
Technology was also creating new opportunities that didn’t exist before. Man could now adapt and take on new roles such as proofreaders, editors, and even authors.
Fast forward to the modern digital world where electronic mail (E-mail) made communication so much easier.
People longed to check their inboxes.
“Our members would stay logged on just to hear that greeting[You’ve got mail]. It wasn't a burden; it was a thrill. It meant someone, somewhere, was thinking of you right now." Steve Case of AOL said.
However, over time, promotions and ads had a way of locating your email address. E-mail now became a job rather than something people looked forward to.
E-mail anxiety became a real thing.
You had so much unopened email that the thought of checking your inbox frightened you.
"I haven't opened my primary Gmail account in three weeks. Every time I think about the little red notification bubble, my chest tightens. It’s not just mail; it’s a list of people I’ve failed.” writer Casey Johnston would say.
Missing out on important emails buried under junk emails was another problem.
A writer from the Guardian missed an opportunity for a residency program that was hidden between promotion emails.
"I had been waiting months for a response from the residency program. I checked my inbox daily—or so I thought. It wasn't until I was clearing out my 'Promotions' and 'Spam' folders three weeks later that I saw it. There, wedged between a 20% off coupon for pizza and a LinkedIn 'suggested connection,' was the invitation. The deadline to accept had passed forty-eight hours earlier. The 'junk' hadn't just wasted my time; it had hijacked my future."
Today, taking the manual approach to handle your inbox is likened to the scribe who took months to copy a book.
If you have to spend hours sifting through your inbox, your productivity is already affected. More so, a career-changing opportunity might be lost tucked under a pizza coupon.
However, the good news is that technology has evolved again and AI is our Guttenberg press.
AI is the tool that is transforming man from an “information processor” to a “decision-maker”.
Information processor - sifts, reads, and sorts emails for 2 hours a day.
Decision-maker - delegates the noise to AI and spends a few minutes checking summaries.
Rather than spend so much time sorting and reading every email, I let AI do it for me.
As a decision-maker, I only spend a few minutes each day checking my inbox and I make rapid decisions; whether it’s responding to a client or making a payment to avoid inconveniences.
I use SaneBox, an AI tool that works in the background and organizes my entire inbox, all without any installation.
It’s like having a daily companion who tells you “Just work and I will take care of your inbox for you.”
News articles and ads are all silenced and I save up-to 3 hours per week.
In today’s world, those who evolve to decision-makers save time by letting AI do the processing for them.
