The Loss of Literacy in Modern America

[DarkElf27]

Thank goodness. I've run into far too many people that see your age, and immediately compare you to the rest of your generation.

Now back on topic, It's ironic that everyone is blaming illiteracy on the internet, and that is the very grounds in which we are discussing it. People like us are why I think the internet is not what causes this; on the contrary, it increases typing skills, spelling in general, and allows for meeting others with the same principles.  

[Aloiv]

DarkElf27

Thank goodness. I've run into far too many people that see your age, and immediately compare you to the rest of your generation.

Now back on topic, It's ironic that everyone is blaming illiteracy on the internet, and that is the very grounds in which we are discussing it. People like us are why I think the internet is not what causes this; on the contrary, it increases typing skills, spelling in general, and allows for meeting others with the same principles.

(Sorry for butting in, but I have something to add.)
Also it helps indorse writers' peices of work. I'm not just talking about fan fics (those get real freaky often) but original stories, poems, journalistic works, play writes, movie scripts, and tons of other examples I can't think of at the moment. It's just that people think that with computers and the internet, they can have all literary tasks done for them, but thats not what they're for.

I think I kinda wandered off from my original point though sweatdrop  

[DarkElf27]

Point taken, but I'd add that Word documents auto-edit your text to make it correct, so that builds BAD habits, whereas forums don't, so you have to type and punctuate it out yourself, which builds GOOD habits.  

[Hoxtalicious]

I haven't got a clue on my word per minute ratio, seeing as I use the old pen and paper a lot (I tend to believe that I was born fifty years too late). Can't even type blind or with ten fingers, ha! The only bugger is to type the finished scrip or document into digital form.

And when in doubt about a word, write it down in several variants, you'll quickly see which one is correct and which one is not. A dictionary also helps in my opinion, something many, many people lack in their homes. I tend to use the built in correction program of WORD as little as possible, otherwise it would be too easy.  

[Ame Yuki Kaze]

I don't mean that the Internet is soley responsible of course. It's just a medium. It reflects as much as it causes. However, remember the old maxim: "Monkey see, monkey do". In other words, one illiterate gets on a message board and sees other illiterate "txt tlk", so they think that's how people act when they're online. That was how I was. I simply thought that's how everyone typed online, only to realize it was just the stupid who did so.

I'll admit, I'm lazy and do use the spell checker in Word, but I can see how that would lead to lazy habits. Perhaps we can just blame Word's spell checker for the loss of literacy. Just wrap it up neatly in a packet. ninja

@Lt_Brookman: My dad often says that he was born too late also. He claims he never caught up with the Industrial Revolution. You're not alone there. 4laugh  

[DarkElf27]

But at the same time, its also a medium for literate growth. It all dpends on where you end up, and how you think in general.

Oh, and you have a join request, you might check that.  

[-M- Mellolicious]

DarkElf27

But at the same time, its also a medium for literate growth. It all depends on where you end up, and how you think in general.

Oh, and you have a join request, you might check that.

The majority of Neopets members = NOOBZ LOLZ!1!1one!11!shift!1!1!  

[-M- Mellolicious]

Shinobi 1977

Not at all. I judge by behavior, not age. Ageism goes against my beliefs.

Yay. n.n  

[Ame Yuki Kaze]

Sexy lil Soc

The majority of Neopets members = NOOBZ LOLZ!1!1one!11!shift!1!1!

Neopets was "teh sux0rz". I played it for a little while, but it was a big chore. I had to feed those pets every day and the food cost so damn much. I never went on the boards. From what I understand, I wasn't missing much. I read that they censored any words that are even remotely connected with sex, like "hot" and "sucks". Talk about being ultra-conservative.  

[DarkElf27]

Gunbound isn't much better. They censor EVERYTHING. Any sentence containing your password is automatically removed (annoying, considering I was trying to talk to a person who's username contained my password.), and everything from 'suck' to 'frick' is censored. rolleyes  

[Shidobu Cloud]

I say that it can be a multitude of things... I mean I voted for laziness because I think that that's truely the biggest reason, however I also think that some people are just ******** stupid. Then you get the people who say "I type over 200 words per minute and I don'r ((hehe, just had to add in the "r")) ever read what I type." So they are either lying to cover their stupid mistakes or they are really just that lazy that they can't read over what they wrote and correct a "t" instead of an "r" that they put down. Plus, when I know what I am going to type I type pretty damn fast and hardly ever mess up and if I do then I can catch it 90% of the time.  

[DarkElf27]

Point taken.

I'd like to bring up another reason that no one has mentioned yet. Video games. Kids don't spend as much time learing, because paying video games is more fun to them. Learning pales in comparison. Some of the greater minds in history got that way because they were bored and came up with things in their spare time. If kids are never bored, they dont get that oppertunity.  

[Ame Yuki Kaze]

DarkElf27

Point taken.

I'd like to bring up another reason that no one has mentioned yet. Video games. Kids don't spend as much time learing, because paying video games is more fun to them. Learning pales in comparison. Some of the greater minds in history got that way because they were bored and came up with things in their spare time. If kids are never bored, they don't get that oppertunity.

Yes I can testify to that. When I was playing UT2004, you wouldn't believe all the bad spelling and grammar that popped up on the screen. I can understand it though, as it's rather hard to type and frag at the same time. If one stops and tries to type properly, one gets one's a** handed to oneself. razz

Today's kids probably won't be great minds who come up with anything because everything's handed to them. People are happy with mediocrity I guess. Where are the personal jetpacks and moving sidewalks that people imagined would be part of 21st century life 50 years ago? They haven't been invented because we're happy with mediocrity. *sighs*  

[DarkElf27]

On the contrary, I type quite literately on Halo PC, and am one of the top players. You just have to make sure you're in a safe place before replying, or typing a quick word while you jump so you don't sacrifice movement.  

[Ame Yuki Kaze]

I guess my skills just aren't there yet. I was a mediocre player at best.