By Anthony Biondi (The Cascade) – Email
Print Edition: March 7, 2012
I would like you to ask yourself how often you pick up a pencil and write for more than five minutes. Notes are one thing, but have you written any papers in pen? There are a select few out there of whom I am certain do this, but the vast majority, as I see it, type. The word processor has, for a long time, been a valuable ally and friend. I know I have counted on her efficient methods of scribing. How can it be possible to go back to pen and pencil, when all it takes is a few keystrokes to record your thoughts?
I bring this forward for one simple reason: that beautiful red squiggly line.
Everyone’s familiar with the perfect, mathematically calculated wiggly bit below our misspelled words. It greets us with not only love, but also altruism. It knows we have problems, and insists that it helps us solve them. But I ask you now, as your true friend: what is the cost to allow this red wiggle to consume our work?
There is a certain fear in handwritten essays. If you spell something wrong, there is no red marking to tell you that you are, in fact, abominably wrong. (I will let you in on a secret. I can’t spell “abominably,” but my computer can. It can spell “abominably” in aces.) When I go into tests, I sweat bullets. I worry that I will lose marks on spelling and so on. With pen in hand I am simply left guessing.
In reality, most of us can’t spell worth a damn. Some of us, sure, are great spellers. We could spell all the words. We were encouraged to learn to spell in elementary school (or at least we were when I attended some decades ago). Yet, dependence on this red wobble has left us reliant. We expect computers to do the thinking now. We can’t spell because the computer spells for us. We can’t do math because the computer does that too. Hell, if we taught computers to give us helpful life advice about picking up members of the opposite sex, we would most definitely be relying on that.
Once the computer begins its work, we don’t have to think nearly as hard. Sure, there are benefits. The simple fact that I can write at top speeds without stopping is the greatest one. But I fear it is the bane of my ability as well.
The nagging question: is there a solution? I give an emphatic maybe. As with all solutions, there is a fair amount of work involved. As we all recall back in the old days of elementary school, we practiced our spelling and arithmetic every day. We would repeat formulas and words over and over again until we had it down pat. The answer is simple: work at it. Nothing comes easy, and spelling is one of those things. It’s why dictionaries are so helpful. It’s why going and talking to the girl (or guy) on your own initiative and with your own words is important.
The digital era has brought forth the mentality that it is okay to rely on our machines. There is an implication to forget that there is a whole other world out there of pencils, paper and books. Though these methods are archaic and ancient, they’re still important. As the new generation are brought up in a computerized world, the threat to spelling ability is increasing. There is no stopping a child from printing off his homework as opposed to hand-writing it. And as they type it out on the computer screen, that red worm will forever be there, helping.
