Some things hardly change

An Egyptian Ostracon   (Public Domain)

Although outer circumstances can rapidly change, core human tendencies seem to remain quite constant.

Do you recall having to write “I will not kid around in class” 100 times as a punishment assignment?  If not you, then perhaps that “class clown” in the next seat…

This discipline turns out to be as old as Ancient Egypt.  Archaeologists recently discovered ostraca (the poor-person’s papyrus) that was covered with “repetitive writing exercises, thought to be a form of punishment for students who misbehaved.”

Shopping lists were also discovered, which implies that human memory has not greatly evolved within thousands of years.

Resources

https://news.yahoo.com/archaeologists-discovered-18-000-ancient-150927958.html