Is ATS proof of the dumbing down of America?

reply to post by meadowfairy


fair enough. points still stand though.

is it just me or is this "no single line post" thing kind of inconvenient sometimes?

Bad grammar and spelling are the written equivalent to the dropping of T's in speech or saying "I fink" (instead of "I think").

It doesn't mean the person writing is necessarily stupid, maybe just careless. But no matter the reason, readers will be prejudiced - they can't help it - and will make the assumption that the person writing is perhaps not the brightest spark. Which invalidates the argument (to an extent) no matter how articulately expressed. I'm sure that I've made posts before which contain mistakes, and I know that they stick out like a sore thumb.

I suppose the lesson here is that if you want your argument or opinion to be taken seriously, make an effort to check your spelling and grammar. Sometimes just a quick read through your post before (or after) posting eliminates 90% of mistakes and only takes a moment. If you're not fussed about how people judge you and therefore your argument, don't bother

And yes it's unfortunate that people to whom English is not a native language have to try 1000% harder. The rest of us don't really have much excuse.

[edit on 29-10-2008 by mattpryor]

Thought I'd fwd this...
***********

Only great minds can read this

This is weird, but interesting!

fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid too

Cna yuo raed tihs? Olny 55 plepoe out of 100 can.

i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The
phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde
Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are,
the olny
iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae.
The
rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm.
Tihs is
bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the
wrod as a
wlohe Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt! if
you can
raed tihs forwrad it.

[edit on 29-10-2008 by jsobecky]

reply to post by jsobecky


lmao. I have read that before myself, pretty nuts. It's like you are not even reading the letters you are just predicting successfully what the sentence will be.

reply to post by jsobecky


Guess I'm 1 of the 55 cause I understood that word for word, without pausing..lol

Errr, Did I just tell everybody I'm some kind of Idiot from the lower end of the Genepool?

reply to post by kingsnake
I believe that the art of communication is to: "Express yourself fully, in the shortest time necessary". If a person has made themselves clear ,while leaving out punctuation: Who cares? The objective has been met. If the point to be made requires a lengthy time, I find the atmosphere of writhing more enjoyable, and relaxed, if I am concentrating more on stating the point, than if I am dotting I,s and crossing crossing all the T,s.

Originally posted by Daedalus
reply to post by meadowfairy

 

fair enough. points still stand though.

is it just me or is this "no single line post" thing kind of inconvenient sometimes?

Daedalus i gues syou just gotta be hot like me and you can get away with anything.

Originally posted by Ironclad

Originally posted by meadowfairy
ironcold how you doin' mate howz live hanging. Wot hav u been doin 2 ur kb homie.
Sorry i sms too much and it seems to run off online dude.

M8 I r 2 733t to b speaking propa England on dese bords.

Really though, all the typing I do, just rubs the letters off the keys..lol I end up having to use a marker to re-write the letters in so I know WTH I am saying.

How embarrassment when I do make mistakes tho..

Ironclad you dont have to apologise to anyone for your keyboard it happens to the best of us

You can't blame ATS for the "dumbing down of America".
Blame the education system, inbreeding, lack of natural selection, pervasive technology, and religion.

There is only one way to fix the 'ur 2 smrat lol omgwtfbbq! there having a partee 4 meeeee cuz i r speshul!" epidemic; it's called Newspeak, and it's doubleplusgood!

reply to post by systemic.aberration


I don't think anyone's actually BLAMING ATS for idiots. I think the point of the thread is an observation that there seems to be an inordinate number of idiots among us. and that through their idiot ways, are making the rest of us look like idiots.

Originally posted by jsobecky

Only great minds can read this

This is weird, but interesting!

fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid too
Cna yuo raed tihs? Olny 55 plepoe out of 100 can.
i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The
phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid,

This is a really interesting exercise – have you thought about making a thread about it?

I had most trouble with two words: sgtrane and phaonmneal

I think that actually is indicative of a crazy amount of processing and comparing going on in the millisecond or less that it takes to see a word. "sgtrane" gave me problems I think because I was expecting "great" not "strange", given the previous use of the phrase "great minds".

And "phaonmneal" is – I'm serious, now – spelled wrong. There are too many "a"s and not enough "e"s. My brain wanted a "t" to turn it into a word based on "phantom" rather than "phenom"

So yes, I was able to read the passage without problem. But I think that it would be more energy and concentration intensive than reading a passage where all the words were spelled in their usual order, and that would start to matter if I was doing a lot of reading (like trying to keep up on a couple forums in ATS for example).

I guess (to get back on topic) what it comes down to for me is that poor spelling and grammar suggests a lack of consideration for your reader. Too much of the internet is already filled with people just trying to say their piece without any thought as to who hears them, or any desire to hear anyone else.

It really is usually easy to tell which posters are trying but for one reason or another have more mistakes than average (dyslexia, lack of formal education – which I do not equate with intelligence, non-fluency in English, "fat fingers", exhaustion) and which ones have a lot of mistakes because the poster is just trying to post as many times as possible as fast as possible without giving thought to the content of their post.

It is the second type that I object to, and that I see as symptomatic of the "dumbing-down" of the developed world. There is a trend toward speaking in sound bites, and repeating points as though shouting louder will make something true. A bid for attention rather than engagement.

(edit to cut down size of quote)

[edit on 10/31/08 by americandingbat]

reply to post by maus80


so you have to be intelligent to have an opinion, give me a break. Hopefully everyone who now makes a post will make sure they hit spell check just for you. if you know what I mean then, then why should I have to explain mis-spelling. I do believe that everyone who has read this post IS now a little dumber for having to consider the logic from which you base your opinion.

reply to post by maus80


You really need to calm down. It's the freak'n internet. Who cares.

It seems that numerous replies to this thread were proof that reading comprehension is on the downward slide as well.

I explained very clearly in the first post that I did not start this to complain/rant.

Thank you to the people who took the time to read it and gave detailed, quality responses. To everyone who got negative and hateful, responded without reading, etc; I have something you can kiss, and you don't even have to be able to spell it.

I wouldn't worry too much about other people's spelling and grammar. There's no need to waste energy getting angry about it. Just be happy that you'res is not as bad. After all, this is internet and it is an informal message board. It's not a term paper or work email where formality is important.

(Kidding on the you'res)

I agree that America is being dumbed down, but it's not limited to the internet. People just don't care as much to correct themselves online.

[edit on 1-11-2008 by Barcs]

Originally posted by SkepticalSteve
reply to post by maus80

 

You really need to calm down. It's the freak'n internet. Who cares.

Good man