The original topic for this post was how the Internet makes us more stupider. But then I realized it’s computers in general, not just the Internet.
I can’t spell. That’s not a major problem these days, but it was an embarrassment when I was in school.
Common spelling error stood out obnoxiously on the page. No matter what I wrote, it was less than what it could be, thanks to my inability to spell common words in English.
Spelling isn’t anyone’s fault. Lamentably, there was no committee of bearded men in pointy hats who decided the proper and logical way to spell any word, let alone words in English. Spelling happened, kind of like the way orange juice gets spilled by a toddler in a high chair and with similar results.
Back in 1986 or so, I bought a word processor with built-in spell checking. It was amazing. And while it didn’t check context, it alerted me to my favorite spelling errors.
On-the-fly spell checking became very popular in the 1990s. Recently, on-the-fly spell checking became common with Firefox and other Internet programs. There’s even self-correcting of spelling errors, and that’s the problem.
We’ve come to rely upon the computer to do the spelling for us. When human being rely on something else to do the work, the original organ becomes atrophied and useless. For example, people who walk everywhere are in better shape than people who use cars. In this case, people who have to remember correct spelling spell better than those who rely on computers.
I also think the obsession with texting, as well as online chat rooms, has accelerated our intellectual demise.
Beyond spelling, the computer hurts in other ways. A computer program that automatically saves your stuff makes you stupid and forget to save your stuff in another program that doesn’t automatically save.
Some people rely on the computer to search for information and therefore they cannot use an index in a book, let alone a card catalog in a library.
In fact, I would care to posture the scary proposition that without the Internet, some people wouldn’t know how to look up anything or find any tidbit of information. Consider:
Can anyone under 25-years-old figure out how to work a dial pay phone?
Can anyone under 25 work a TV without a remote control?
Can anyone, any age, compose a letter and mail it? How about composing the letter in cursive writing?
Can anyone go to a library and find information about, say, the Hubble Space Telescope?
These may seem like trivial questions now, but in 10 years . . . who knows?
As we rely on the computer more and more, the old way of doing things atrophies. Eventually it will rot and go away. Then heaven help us, because no one will remember how to help themselves.
I r disgree. Computrs mak lif ezier. Dey r dont mak me dummer.
Comment by gamerguy473 — September 20, 2010 @ 1:51 pm
yore funni
Comment by admin — September 20, 2010 @ 3:05 pm
lol ya rite
I still try to use proper spelling and all that, even if most times I fail at it.
Comment by linuxlove — September 20, 2010 @ 7:01 pm
There’s also the simple ability to compose a sentence. Not just subject-verb-object, but to express yourself in the manner you intended.
Comment by admin — September 20, 2010 @ 7:06 pm
Oh, I’m good at composing sentences…
The funny thing is, though, I know a few people who wouldn’t be able to do the things you asked…
> Can anyone under 25-years-old figure out how to work a dial pay phone?
As far as I am aware these are no longer present in Australia, but if they were, I doubt it would be too difficult for me to use one. Others, maybe so.
> Can anyone under 25 work a TV without a remote control?
I don’t think many people could do this one. It took a while for me to figure out how to control our newfangled TV the other day without the remote, but once I got that sorted, easy.
Something else going out of fashion: reading manuals. Do it. You can learn so much.
> Can anyone, any age, compose a letter and mail it? How about composing the letter in cursive writing?
Funny story about this, actually, we had a class assignment where we were given 90 minutes to write a letter for assessment, either via typing or by hand. Out of a class of 24, one wrote by hand. Watching some of the people around me type their letters, it was amazing watching how poorly some of them grasped proper writing skills, or how brilliantly some of them grasped the concepts. To be honest, it was saddening.
This was, by the way, a class of year 12’s, all between 17 and 18 years old.
> Can anyone go to a library and find information about, say, the Hubble Space Telescope?
Heh, most of the people I know don’t even go to the library, and if they do, it’s either for free Wifi or something from the Cafe. But all it takes here is to simply punch “Hubble Space Telescope” into the Catalogue and go where it tells you to go.
That’s something else that people won’t know how to use in the future: the Dewey decimal system.
Comment by Douglas — September 20, 2010 @ 11:10 pm
Good point about the library the only way they seem to be able to get people through the door these days is free internet access. I have to say a spell check makes my life easier, but when people start using text speak in emails and on Facebook, that’s a different matter. I can understand it on a phone because you don’t have a full keyboard, but when typing on a Laptop or even an I phone it is so easy to type on I can’t see why people still use the text speak. I find it takes me twice a long to read what people are trying to say. Some children are now handing in their homework in text speak.
Comment by chiefnoobie — September 21, 2010 @ 1:26 am
You’re serious? In text speak?
I knew a HS teacher who immediately flunks any student who hands in anything, even a teeny tidbit of text, from Wikipedia.
Comment by admin — September 22, 2010 @ 6:24 am