A scene from the Academy of Operation Triunfo 2025 He has gone viral with more than one million views, but did not do it for the vocal talent of the participants: several contestants between 19 and 20 years did not know how to read what the needles of a wall clock marked. “I will have to pretend that I know how to read that,” said one of the participants. “Literal, I still” replied another of the participants.
As curious as it seems, none of those present during the breakfast time at the OT Academy knew exactly what the hand of the hours was and which of the minutes. “The little girl is the one who marks the time and this is the one who marks the minutes. So it will be 10 because here is 11 and here is 12,” said Salma, 19 years old. “How do you know that? I don’t know that, “Olivia replied, with the same age.
Noemí Galera, the head of the training of the contestants of this edition of the reality Musical sponsored by Prime Video, had to make an appearance and, not without some stupefaction, explain how that strange gadget with needles that hung from the wall worked.
The generational gap of technology
What seemed an anecdote is, in fact, a sign of how the lack of exposure to elements that previous generations consider common, causes familiarity to be lost with them.
Be unable to Read the time on an analog clock It’s just an example of this. The most curious thing is that the scene collected by the OT cameras are not an increasingly younger case in the world are unable to read the time if it is not in a digital clock, in the same way that they do not understand the relationship between a cassette tape and a BIC pen.
The rise of electronic devices has made it much easier to find digital watches than analog. You have them on the mobile screen, on the smartwatches, on the computer, on televisions, in public transport and even in street marques. On the other hand, doing an exercise exercise, would you know how to say how many times have you read the time on an analog clock today?
In fact, this exhibition has been reduced so much that academic essays of the Complutense University, the University of Alcalá and the Metropolitan University of Education Sciences have been published in which the teaching staff should make a greater school effort in the teaching of the concept of time and including reading the analog watches.
Science puts numbers
A study developed by Israel neurologists asked young people from generation Z (born after 1997) to draw a clock marking a specific time that they indicated, in a usual test in the cognitive assessments called test of the clock drawing or CDT (clock drawing test).
Although most successfully got it, the average score was 8.1 out of 10 and the youngest of the group were the ones who made the most mistakes. The authors suggest that the lack of practice could be behind that lower ease when representing something that, in theory it is so basic for anyone over 30 years.
Reading the time on an analog clock requires identifying two hands, interpreting its position and translating it into a number. As simple as it seems it is a small cognitive and mathematical challenge. On the other hand, look at a mobile and read “14:37” does not require any viso -spatial process or its conversion to a numerical format as an analog watches require.
With the digital clock format, the brain obtains the data without intermediate calculations, which explains why digital watches are easier to use and intuitive for those who use it daily and does not require a certain cognitive training to read and interpret it fluently.
Outside the academy they don’t know the time either
This situation is not exclusive to the participants of this 2025 edition of Operation Triunfo. In the US, a Yougov survey revealed that 83% of those over 45 can read the time on an analog clock immediately, compared to 43% of young people under 30 who had this ability. 45% of these young people took a few seconds to do so and 12% or were not able to read it or took more than a few seconds to get it.
In the United Kingdom the data is not much better. According to what was published by The Telegraphsome schools were replacing the analog watches with digital in the exam classrooms because the students did not know how much exam time they had left.
This does not mean that generation Z “does not know” reading watches, but does it less fluently. The ability does not disappear, but it becomes something accessory, little practiced and less present in your daily life.
The scene lived in the Academy of Triunfo more reflects a cultural and generational change than an individual failure. The loss of ease with needle watches is the logical result of digitalization: we use what we see more. And today, what we see more is time on screens.
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Image | Amazon / Unspash (Malvestida, Rodolfo Barretto)
