Are we losing common skills

A recent drive through transaction got me to thinking.  I had cash and plenty of change so I was able to produce exact change at the window.  I had to gather the appropriate amount of quarters, nickels and pennies to go with the bills.  That required me to do some very elementary math.  Of course, if I would have used a debit card, I would not have to think at all, even to remember the total.  That total was on the receipt, along with an itemized bill and the ubiquitous survey request.  I had only to pause shortly in the parking lot and I could have viewed the debit in my bank account.

But I started thinking about that tiny bit of mathematics I performed, I began to wonder; are we losing the basic cognitive skills that have served us in the marketplace for ages?

Everyone has had a retail encounter where in an effort to get back an exact amount, say a five dollar bill, one has added a dollar or so and some change to a twenty.  When offering this to the cashier, one gets a blank stare, or the cashier has to ask the register for the answer.

And a true lost art is the ability to count back change!

I am not pining over the diminished skills of cash transactions, indeed, with cards, smart phones and the like, cash is much less important and may disappear anyway.

But what I am wondering, is there a true loss of cognitive power when we are freed from the drudgery's of simple transactions and the simple math that goes with it?   By not using brain function for calculations, are we sacrificing capacity?

Perhaps, all of us should think on this!