Are spellcheck and autocorrect making us dumber?

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I've been noticing lately that I personally have placed less of an emphasis on making sure I know how words are spelled. Why? Because I know that as long as I'm close spellcheck/autocorrect are always going to be there to fix it for me.

I realize of course that this is folly and intend to work harder on making sure that I know how to spell complex words correctly.

But it makes me wonder, will younger generations even bother? Will they realize it's a problem to not know how to spell shit properly? Do young people today even put any effort into making sure that they can hand-write things with proper spelling or do they just assume that spellcheck will always be there to help them?
 
yes, I used to try and memorize how to spell words. Now I don't care. I don't even care to spell it correctly anymore either. Sometimes, I purposely leave out 1 or 2 letters to hasten my typing.
 
freaky said:
yes, I used to try and memorize how to spell words. Now I don't care. I don't even care to spell it correctly anymore either.
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Just a minute ago I was trying to spell "cigarettes." I realized I didn't know if it had one R or two. I punched it into a program I was using and then realized the program did not have a spellcheck function. It was enlightening moment for me.

freaky said:
Sometimes, I purposely leave out 1 or 2 letters to hasten my typing.
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<1>
 
I find it funny when people blame auto correct for bad spelling when the word they wrote could not possibly have been an auto correct error if they typed correctly in the first place.
 
I wish something fixed punctuation. I think spellcheck could be bad, but at that same time seeing words spelled correctly may be better for learning.
 
Turtlejuice said:
I find it funny when people blame auto correct for bad spelling when the word they wrote could not possibly have been an auto correct error if they typed correctly in the first place.
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Well autocorrect can sometimes improperly predict the word you're trying to type.
 
shonuf said:
. . . but at that same time seeing words spelled correctly may be better for learning.
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Maybe for some people. But I think for others it's an excuse to not have to learn how shit is actually spelled.

Their attitude is: "Why bother?"
 
shadow_priest_x said:
Well autocorrect can sometimes improperly predict the word you're trying to type.
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Of course it can, but the there are plenty of times when people just have atrocious spelling and blame auto correct, when it's clearly not auto correct. Can't think of an example off the top of my head, but it would be like if I typed "attroshus" instead of "atrocious", then blamed auto correct.
 
shadow_priest_x said:
I've been noticing lately that I personally have placed less of an emphasis on making sure I know how words are spelled. Why? Because I know that as long as I'm close spellcheck/autocorrect are always going to be there to fix it for me.

I realize of course that this is folly and intend to work harder on making sure that I know how to spell complex words correctly.

But it makes me wonder, will younger generations even bother? Will they realize it's a problem to not know how to spell shit properly? Do young people today even put any effort into making sure that they can hand-write things with proper spelling or do they just assume that spellcheck will always be there to help them?
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It could be like calculators making us less able to do math. Spelling is different in that the context of the word determines how it's spelled. Spelling a word wrong can give it an entirely different meaning. Breaking a leg vs braking a car which is seen all too often. Male and mail. Spell check isn't likely to catch those errors.

Texting is likely more of a bane to spelling.
 
It's the same thing with calculators. People forget how to do basic arithmetic.
 
Should it be "Are spellcheck and autocorrect"?
 
ralphc1 said:
Texting is likely more of a bane to spelling.
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Well texting falls into the same category. Just like with a word processor or an Internet forum, as long as you're close to the word it will give you the correct spelling.
 
shadow_priest_x said:
I've been noticing lately that I personally have placed less of an emphasis on making sure I know how words are spelled. Why? Because I know that as long as I'm close spellcheck/autocorrect are always going to be there to fix it for me.

I realize of course that this is folly and intend to work harder on making sure that I know how to spell complex words correctly.

But it makes me wonder, will younger generations even bother? Will they realize it's a problem to not know how to spell shit properly? Do young people today even put any effort into making sure that they can hand-write things with proper spelling or do they just assume that spellcheck will always be there to help them?
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Yes...finally someone who gets it...I've been saying this shit for a while...I turned mine off...you have to give your mind a little exercise...let that shit work and do its job
 
Well, look at how physically convenient everything has consistently made the first world fatter.

Now it is time for mentally convenient everything.
 
Putting letters the correct order makes you smart?
If Neil Degrasse Tyson put your insted of your're, then rites acommodate not accommodate, does that make u smarterer
 
NAKMUAY18 said:
Putting letters the correct order makes you smart?
If Neil Degrasse Tyson put your insted of your're, then rites acommodate not accommodate, does that make u smarterer
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Yeah, but does Neil Degrasse Tyson make a common practice of misspelling shit?
 
NAKMUAY18 said:
Putting letters the correct order makes you smart?
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Well consistently misspelling words is definitely a sign of being less educated.

So "smart" in terms of an indication of IQ? Maybe not. "Smart" in terms of having basic education? Yes.
 
Depends on the person. I make sure I spell words correctly, and if there's any doubt I'll google it. I'll also edit any posts of mine I come across if I notice a typo or misspelled word.

I hate seeing people use loose instead of lose, defiant instead of definite, dominate instead of dominant. Makes you look like a moron. You're typing from a device that has a dictionary in it.
 
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