The development of technology and technology is primarily aimed at improving and facilitating the life of each of us. But at the same time, this is the reason for the disappearance of a number of crafts. The disappeared profession is the work that was previously carried out by specially trained people, but now it does not make sense at all, or is carried out using technology.
The disappearance of professions - is this normal?
Logically speaking, it becomes clear that such processes in the structure of professions are quite logical. In no case should one perceive the disappearance of professions as a destructive factor, as a result of which many people become unemployed. It is important to remember that old professions that have disappeared are necessarily changing with new specialties that are more modern, relevant and in demand for the social system. Sometimes there is a direct replacement for the craft, for example, the ancient profession of a tinker is transformed into the profession of an electric gas welder, once the popular work of a newspaperman is becoming less and less popular, and in its place you can put the work of a promoter that has appeared recently.
The most ancient professions that have disappeared
What are the oldest disappeared professions? The list of such crafts that went into oblivion is quite long. The disappearance of professions is a constant, planned process that does not attract the attention of the masses. Today we do not think about which professions disappeared several centuries ago, and we may not even suspect their existence.
List of Forgotten Professions
- Pied Piper. One of the terrible problems of the Middle Ages was rats. As you guessed, people who were called Pied Piper bravely fought the scourge. Representatives of this profession, despite all their usefulness, were not very respected in society. Each Pied Piper had his own methods of fighting rodents and tried to better advertise himself in order to get around competitors.
- An ice - maker is an extremely difficult and dangerous profession with a risk to life. The ice carvers were long saws loaded with water. The ice was cut into longitudinal bars called “boars”. Further, these "boars" were supplied to the settlements and were pretty hot commodities.
- Spitter planted turnips. The name of the profession gave a specific method of sowing small seeds of this plant.
- Mourners and cries learned the craft of crying since childhood. Not a single ritual action in Russia was complete without them. The more pitiful and piercing the mourner could moan, the higher was the reward for her labors.
- Buffoons - their professional duties were to entertain ordinary people on the streets. The reason for the disappearance of this profession was not technological progress, but changes in the social structure of society.
- Alarm clock man - from the name it’s already becoming clear what the people of this profession were doing. At a time when the alarm clock had not yet been invented, it was also not advisable to be late for work. For this, a special person knocked on the windows, announcing the arrival of the morning. Sometimes this function was performed by janitors.
- The executioner - now you will not meet people of this rare profession because of their uselessness in the current social system.
Each of these specialties seems strange and ridiculous to us. It’s hard to imagine in the modern world an executioner putting up a resume, or a crying woman advertising her services. But at one time these were quite popular specialists.
What professions are gone in the last century
These crafts are already closer and familiar to us. They do not seem so absurd, but still do not fit into the realities of modern society.
- Lamplighter. Remembering the disappeared professions, it is impossible not to pay attention to people who gave light. Their main task is to light the lights at dusk.
- A cabman is a person who drives a horse-drawn cart. This used to be the only way to get to your destination as quickly as possible. In the modern world, an analogue of this profession can be called a driver.
- Counter - specially trained people who performed complex mathematical calculations using the only “gadget” available at that time - accounts. Mostly women were engaged in this business, since they are more attentive and collected.
- Reader is a very informative profession. In factories and factories where people spent many hours in a row doing monotonous work, there was a man who entertained them with reading newspapers, fiction and poetry. Often, readers were hired for the money collected by the team.
Disappeared professions in the last 10 years
They say: "life is getting faster." Probably, in connection with this, changes in the structure of specialties are more noticeable. It will not be difficult for us to recall the mass of examples of professions that disappear right before our eyes. Disappeared professions in Russia over the past decade:
- Knife grinder - in principle, such a profession still exists, but you will not find its representatives during the day with fire, they have become so rare. Non-dulling knives made of high-quality steel have come into fashion, which can last a long time, and they cost much less.
- Shoe cleaner - Once upon a time, they could be seen at every intersection of the main streets of cities and towns. Later, shoe cleaners engaged in their craft mainly in special workshops.
- Telephone operator, telegraph operator - it seems that just recently receiving telegrams in the mail seemed to us commonplace. And how nice it was to hear the voice of a girl telephone operator, waiting for a connection with a subscriber. Now everything is in the past. The role of cute representatives of these professions can replace a functional smartphone. We managed to find out far from all the disappeared professions. This list is getting longer every decade.
Is it possible to predict something
Analyzing the information about which professions disappeared and what events provoked such disappearance, we can make an assumption about how things will continue in the structure of crafts. The beginning of the extinction of some specialties is so obvious that it is not even necessary to be a specialist in order to draw appropriate conclusions.
Professions that will disappear by 2020
This information is not 100% reliable, but still no one can doubt that it is these specialties that will soon cease to exist. Already, they are losing their former relevance, becoming less in demand, and after 2020, most likely, they will move to the category of “disappeared professions”.
- The postman is a profession doomed to extinction. With the advent of the Internet, newspapers and magazines have lost their former popularity, and we receive 90% of letters by e-mail.
- Travel agent - information about places of rest becomes publicly available, planning travel trips does not require any additional resources and becomes affordable for everyone.
- Librarian, archivist, document manager - the extinction of these professions is facilitated by the organization of electronic databases and electronic archives.
- Copywriter - according to forecasts, in the near future computer programs will be able to generate articles of various topics themselves, and the number of “keyboard workers” will sharply decrease.
- Call center operator - now many companies offer the opportunity to solve problematic issues in automatic mode, controlling the system through the answering machine commands. This becomes the basis for a sharp reduction in the number of operators.
- Lecturer . Online courses are an alternative to classroom activities. It is precisely because of these innovations that the education system may disappear in the education system.
- Usher. With caners reading information - this is what will become a replacement for a living person, a specialist in the sale and verification of tickets.
- Seamstress - it's hard to believe, but this profession is also in danger of extinction. Soon manual labor will be needed only to create expensive designer things, and equipment for independent production of clothing at home will be available to everyone.
- The lifter - mechanisms that ensure the uninterrupted operation of elevators, are improved and automated every year. Soon, specialists will not be needed to control the operation of elevators; machines will do this for them.
- Stenographer - in the next few years, the work of stenographers and decoders will completely replace the work of computer programs capable of voice recognition.
Choosing the “Right” Profession
We have always been taught to choose the profession of the soul. But what if the work that you like and for which there is a craving, suddenly becomes unnecessary? It will be a shame if knowledge and professional skills remain unrealized. In order not to fall into such a situation, among other factors, it is necessary to consider the prospects of this specialty in the conditions of technological progress. Try to approach the choice of a future profession with all seriousness and consider the issue from different angles.
To summarize
The disappeared professions of the 20th century are a huge list of specific crafts, which in most cases are based on hard physical work. The need for the existence of such professions disappeared with the advent of complex technical devices controlled by man and performing this work instead. In today's world, these missing professions may seem strange, surprising, or meaningless, but they will forever remain part of our history.