Spell Check: The Repercussions of Spelling's Decline

As I discussed in a prior article, it's likely that future generations will place considerably less importance on memorizing spelling by rote. Just in the past 20 years, there has been a true sea change in perspectives on the value of proper spelling. Whether it's a tween texting her BBFL or an investor tweeting market news, shameless abbreviating and misspelling has become acceptable, albeit queasily so. In more professional written discourse, the newest features of web browsers and other software informs you of a mistake instantly, often even making automatic corrections. Once the older generations have passed from this earth, how long will it be until we start teaching are kids that can largely rely on computers for spelling accuracy? Is this change for the good or the bad?

As we know, we become dependent on the tools that make our life easy to the point that we've almost forgotten many tasks that were once critical to basic daily life, such as baking bread or manual laundry. However, the 20th century freed us to do something more rewarding than household chores. Similarly, the digital revolution has freed our minds from the tedium of spelling and traditional research. Rather than spending hours or days researching at a library, producing a draft and carefully editing it with a fine tooth comb, we now have a growing portion of the sum of human knowledge at our fingertips and the software available to quickly process the information and spend the majority of our energy on creative thought.

On the other hand, what is being lost in the process? Earlier writers were forced to sit at their desks and think their statements through, spelling included. Whether written in an elegant hand or typed on an early typewriter, the result was richer content that reflected the consideration necessary to write accurately. Time spent in serious research and mulling over a draft allow allow one to consider the topic and information more carefully. This quality seems lacking in much of today's writing, especially in the case of web content, giving us a stirring example of how the medium is the message. Today's articles often read like they were written by some random person sitting at home because the usually were.

In my opinion, this is mostly a beautiful thing. Whereas once the people were illiterate masses relying on a sole source for information about the world both physical and otherwise, the death of memorized spelling is a symptom of the freedom that is now available to every man and woman to learn, think, and create for themselves. We no longer need the higher authority of a dictionary or expert before thinking and writing for ourselves. If that means some shoddily edited content and ill informed articles, that's a small price to pay for intellectual freedom.