This week we will talk about autocorrect, spell checker, and grammar checkers.
To start off, I am not going to talk about how
autocorrect, spell check, or grammar check works (even though it might be
fascinating to look under the hood on it). What we are going to talk about are
these programs actually making us dumber? If you think about it, how often
do we misspell words and autocorrect is right there fixing them without you intervening.
The problem I see most frequently is the work gets fixed, and I didn't learn how I
misspelled the word wrong. The reason is by the time I notice it was misspelled, it
was changed, and I forgot how I spelled it. Now that might just be me, but I feel that might be many of you out there as well. How often do you have
to google a word in hopes that Google knows what you're trying to type so that
gives you the correct spelling, or asking our phones how to spell a word. I've done it countless times. Grammar is one of my weakest
point and has been since I was a kid. In fact, after I finish typing up
this email, I will run it through an application to check my spelling and
grammar. But are they all bad?
Let us look at a program I use to help me with my spelling
and grammar, it is called Grammarly. They have a free version (which is
the one I use) that not only can help with spelling, but can even see what you
are trying to convey and make sure you are using proper grammar. The
program is pretty neat, and is the one I use to check these emails along with
other items I write up. In the settings of Grammarly you can choose; I
write in, and choose what language you type in, detect tone in my writing, and
writing style. Detect tone in my writing is Grammarly's way of check to
see if you are conveying what you're trying to convey, and if the grammar is
correct in that. Writing style is the personal dictionary, this is where
you can add word that you may use all the time but are not maybe spelled
properly. An example of this would be SMC, now it will say that is
misspelled, but I can add that to the dictionary, and it won't catch it
every time you use it. This would work for first or last names as well, if
they get hit by the spell check every time(I know mine does).
So the burning question is, how do these make us
dumb? To answer it simple, the only time I think that it is a detriment
to us is when the correction happens automatically. When it happens
automatically, yes it save some time but at the cost of you learning your
mistake. When we make mistakes, they can be used to help us grow and
learn. Does it suck to make mistakes? Yes, sometimes more than
others, but it is in these mistakes that make us who we are. I know you
never hear about people's mistakes only successes, but if you think about it, how
many times did they have to make mistakes to get to that success. A
famous quote by Thomas Edison, “I have not failed. I've just found 10,000
ways that won't work.” Who know, maybe one of those mistakes will make
you realize something, then down the road you'll remember those mistakes and
maybe learn something new from it.
I hope you learned a little about grammar programs and
maybe a little about yourself. If you have a questions or concerns, please leave a comment below. Also, if you have any topics you want to know more about, let
me know, and maybe I'll do a DR note on them. Have a great week!!
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