RE: MS will help us find the right words?

["Michael West" <mbwest -at- bigpond -dot- com>]

> From: Caroline Tabach> 
> If we look at this a bit differently, how about starting with the
> school child who from some point writes many of their papers using
> Word, and its spell-checker. In this case, the child actually never
> learns to spell correctly in the first place, as they rely on the
> spell-checker; in the same way that use of calculators from an early
> age, means they do not acquire complex maths skills at all in the
> first place. So, therefore we could be talking about not acquiring the
> skill of correct spelling, rather than losing this skill. Or, the part
> of humanity that depends on computers will no longer know how to do
> mental arithmetic or spell.
> Therefore I am not sure whether Edgar meant that the members of this
> list, who are after-all a very specific sub-set, will lose their
> spelling abilities, but that in general, regular people relying on
> computers, will at some point lose their ability to spell correctly.
> Possibly, they will never even learn how to spell in the first place.

Dreadful scenario, I agree. But if this actually happens, it's the fault of
the school system, not the word processing software. My quarrel is with
those who blame a spelling checker for not being perfect. I'm happy to have
a spelling checker, with all its shortcomings, because I'm a sloppy typist.

--
Mike

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