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Pastimes : SI Grammar and Spelling Lab -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: JB2 who wrote (2589)	5/23/1999 10:28:00 AM
From: Don Pueblo	Respond to of 4711

Yeah, I would not disagree with that survey. Plenty of engineers can't spell to good. I see the whole thing as just another example of the decay of western civilization. At some point, the Bad Aliens could arrive, say "Take me to your leader!", and some illiterate high school senior would drive them over to Marilyn Manson's apartment. That could be interesting.

To: JB2 who wrote (2589)	5/23/1999 10:39:00 AM
From: jbe	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 4711

Marilyn Vos Savant claims she did a survey, albeit non-scientific, that concluded that people with superior spelling skills possessed no greater i.q.'s than poor spellers. Spelling is just a function of longterm memory that some have and some don't. I have to agree with Vos Savant, although I cannot defend my opinion "scientifically", either. I have always said that you either have a "spelling bump" or you don't. Personally, I had the good fortune to be born with a "spelling bump". My late husband, a fine poet and a Professor of English, was not. So he attributed my spelling ability sometimes to "lack of imagination", or, when he was in a more benign mood, to the fact I had read less Middle English than he had. I like to think that the latter explanation is closer to the truth.<g> For one thing, it fits better with the Vos Savant theory about long-term memory function: having seen a word once or twice, people with "spelling bumps" automatically remember how it ought to look on a page. (When someone asks me how to spell a word, I first write it down, to see if it "looks right".) But if you had seen the same word written differently on different occasions (as you would have had you read a lot of Middle English), your "photographic memory" might fail you, by photographing the "wrong" spelling, or too many conflicting spellings. So, I personally would never think of using spelling ability as a criterion for measuring general intelligence, or even general education (unless the misspellings are too frequent and too egregious). Grammatical mistakes are of another order, I think. In an educated person, chronically bad grammar, or chronically sloppy writing, can often be an indicator of generally poor reasoning ability. (In uneducated people, it means only that they have no education, not that they are stupid or logically impaired.) jbe

To: JB2 who wrote (2589)	5/23/1999 11:17:00 AM
From: Anaxagoras	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 4711

Some folks would do well in a spellin' bee, others would not. This may or may not have to do with long term memories. However, this isn't the point, IMO. Dictionaries and software programs aren't allowed in such settings. They are allowed on SI, and dare I say their use is encouraged? Folks should use 'em, sez I. When they don't, nine times out of ten they're either lazy, inconsiderate, or worse. It's kind of like going out into public without having showered for a week, IMO. Occasionally there is a good reason for doing this (e.g. when you return from a long camping trip, suffer a severe case of eczema, have major surgery, lack education with respect to hygiene, yadda yadda). Usually however the individual is lazy,inconsiderate, or simply feels like giving the finger to the world. Now where the heck did I put my shampoo.... :-) Anaxagoras