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#2
05-07-2007, 09:21 PM
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Re: The Dumbing Down of America
Since I use my calculator for gaussian elimination, does that mean I is stoopid?
Since I would prefer to use spell-check and take a fraction of a second finishing a task instead of minutes I is stoopid? Don't confuse "lean" with stupidity. Work smart, not hard! 
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#3
05-07-2007, 09:22 PM
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Re: The Dumbing Down of America
[ QUOTE ]
Since I use my calculator for gaussian elimination, does that mean I is stoopid? Since I would prefer to use spell-check and take a fraction of a second finishing a task instead of minutes I is stoopid? Don't confuse "lean" with stupidity. Work smart, not hard! [/ QUOTE ] Meh, you are pretty stupid for not understanding the point that they were getting at.
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#4
05-07-2007, 10:37 PM
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Re: The Dumbing Down of America
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ] Since I use my calculator for gaussian elimination, does that mean I is stoopid? Since I would prefer to use spell-check and take a fraction of a second finishing a task instead of minutes I is stoopid? Don't confuse "lean" with stupidity. Work smart, not hard! [/ QUOTE ] Meh, you are pretty stupid for not understanding the point that they were getting at. [/ QUOTE ] You must feel quite brilliant for making some wise crack post that borders on trollish. Sorry if I missed some big point here, not everybody possesses your prodigious intellect.
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#5
05-07-2007, 10:02 PM
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Re: The Dumbing Down of America
[ QUOTE ]
Since I use my calculator for gaussian elimination, does that mean I is stoopid? Since I would prefer to use spell-check and take a fraction of a second finishing a task instead of minutes I is stoopid? Don't confuse "lean" with stupidity. Work smart, not hard! [/ QUOTE ] the problem with spell check is that it has made people lazy with regard to simple grammatical mistakes - so you will see 'to' instead of 'too' and 'your' instead of 'you're' all over because spell check won't catch these sorts of things. I think the calculator example is somewhat different, as it takes the place of simple (but time-consuming) tasks.
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#6
05-07-2007, 10:29 PM
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Re: The Dumbing Down of America
[ QUOTE ]
Calculator instead of Pen and Paper GPS Navigation instead of a Map Spell Checker instead of a Dictionary [/ QUOTE ] Only the first one actually respresents any sort of dumbing down in my opinion. I doubt that using a nav system actually makes it impossible for anyone to use a map, or that using spell check actually decreases anyone's ability to spell (it's almost certainly the opposite), but I see every day how the use of calculators has replaced the ability to do math. This is the fault of public school math instructors though, and not the calculator itself.
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#7
05-07-2007, 10:36 PM
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Re: The Dumbing Down of America
[ QUOTE ]
or that using spell check actually decreases anyone's ability to spell (it's almost certainly the opposite) [/ QUOTE ] Spellcheck does however lead to people making silly mistakes such as your instead of you're or to too and two. Often it leads to people not proofreading at all.
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#8
05-07-2007, 11:54 PM
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Re: The Dumbing Down of America
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ] or that using spell check actually decreases anyone's ability to spell (it's almost certainly the opposite) [/ QUOTE ] Spellcheck does however lead to people making silly mistakes such as your instead of you're or to too and two. [/ QUOTE ] I doubt this very much. It might lead them to not catching those sorts of mistakes, but it certainly doesn't lead to making them in the first place. [ QUOTE ] Often it leads to people not proofreading at all. [/ QUOTE ] Maybe.
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#9
05-07-2007, 11:41 PM
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Re: The Dumbing Down of America
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ] Calculator instead of Pen and Paper GPS Navigation instead of a Map Spell Checker instead of a Dictionary [/ QUOTE ] Only the first one actually respresents any sort of dumbing down in my opinion. I doubt that using a nav system actually makes it impossible for anyone to use a map, or that using spell check actually decreases anyone's ability to spell (it's almost certainly the opposite), but I see every day how the use of calculators has replaced the ability to do math. This is the fault of public school math instructors though, and not the calculator itself. [/ QUOTE ] boro - i disagree on all three of these points. using a nav system will almost certainly deaden people to using maps, and using spellcheck means you don't have to know how to spell words. I think you're projecting your own intellectual curiosities and ability to retain information on to others. While these items increase efficiency, they also increase the possibility of lassitude as well - like any other piece of technology that replaces a simple task, people lose the ability to do those simple tasks when the technology is removed.
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#10
05-08-2007, 12:01 AM
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Re: The Dumbing Down of America
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] Calculator instead of Pen and Paper GPS Navigation instead of a Map Spell Checker instead of a Dictionary [/ QUOTE ] Only the first one actually respresents any sort of dumbing down in my opinion. I doubt that using a nav system actually makes it impossible for anyone to use a map, or that using spell check actually decreases anyone's ability to spell (it's almost certainly the opposite), but I see every day how the use of calculators has replaced the ability to do math. This is the fault of public school math instructors though, and not the calculator itself. [/ QUOTE ] boro - i disagree on all three of these points. using a nav system will almost certainly deaden people to using maps, [/ QUOTE ] By what possible mechanism? It's not like people take some sort of class in map reading when they're young that no longer gets taught because of nav systems. It's a piece of paper with the roads drawn on it. The people that can't work a map are not going to be able to work it whether or not they have a nav system, and the people that understand maps are not suddenly going to become functionally retarded by the presence of a nav system. [ QUOTE ] and using spellcheck means you don't have to know how to spell words. [/ QUOTE ] It takes time to run a spell checker, and the process of running it is basically like a mini-exercise in hooked on phonics every time you use it. [ QUOTE ] I think you're projecting your own intellectual curiosities and ability to retain information on to others. [/ QUOTE ] Perhaps. But it seems much more likely that a general decline in spelling ability can be traced to the same source as the general decline in math ability, public education, rather than a tool that teaches you how to spell a word every time you get it wrong. [ QUOTE ] While these items increase efficiency, they also increase the possibility of lassitude as well - like any other piece of technology that replaces a simple task, people lose the ability to do those simple tasks when the technology is removed. [/ QUOTE ] Spelling and math aren't really simple tasks. They have to be taught. That is what is missing.
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