Using spellcheck, autocorrect, and predictive text is making people dumber, amirite?

I can't speak for everyone but spellcheck has taught me how to spell words I otherwise didn't know and each time their spelling stuck with me.

by Anonymous 1 month ago

I am one of those people where the spelling of the word sticks in my brain when I see it so spellcheck has helped me, but there are so many people out there that don't even pay attention to anything and they just let the phone do the work for them and it's only been getting worse.

by Weberkareem 1 month ago

I'm this way with every word except restaurant. I need autocorrect on that one every time, and every time I think I'll remember the next time

by cameron56 1 month ago

Spelling "Tongue" messes me up sometimes, dunno why.

by Anonymous 1 month ago

Do you go out and get books or do your own research out in the field or do you sometimes google things? If you need to do math, do you only do it in your head or on scratch paper, and never use a calculator? Auto correct is a tool. Nothing more.

by alanismckenzie 1 month ago

I'll take that as a win, that you agree with me. But I have argued this point with many people who insist that I am wrong about this, sadly.

by StrangerUnfair8212 1 month ago

You're entirely right, I see it all the time. Social media seems to be getting dumber and dumber and it's because of all these auto features that allow people to not really use their brain anymore. We are turning into a society of brain rot zombies.

by Weberkareem 1 month ago

I think it's a coincidence. People were already massively stupid, auto-correct just let's people be more comfortable with their stupidity.

by Clementina25 1 month ago

IMO refusal to adopt useful technologies for invalid reasons (e.g., belief that one's ability to spell is a useful measure of intelligence) is a better indicator of intelligence than spelling ability.

by Lazy_Cheetah1898 1 month ago

I feel like this only applies if the person is dumb to begin with, and wouldn't learn regardless.

by Anonymous 1 month ago

I agree with this point. When I don't know how to write a word, I try the autocorrect or Google. Then I try to remember it. Some people will not do that last part, because they're dumb or unwilling. Those people are the problem.

by EnvironmentRegular78 1 month ago

I disagree...people have become TOO dependent on their phones doing everything FOR them.

by StrangerUnfair8212 1 month ago

Exactly, it's like thinking you can lift 150 pounds because you used to go to the gym 5 years ago. All of that training is useless if you don't you keep up with it

by Anonymous 1 month ago

ppl have become way to dependent on their phones. My sister is one of them. She literally runs to her phone for everything. She would probably die without it.

by Anonymous 1 month ago

"Kids these days will never be able to retain information now that they can just write it down!"

by Chance-Inspection-14 1 month ago

To a certain extend spelling is just an ar itrary thing we put onto lá guage, and which was very flexible for the longest time. I also don't think ability to spell is a great marker for smarts (you can have a genius who is hella dialectic and can't for the life of them spell any word correct, and an idiot who knows how to spell everything and wins spelling bees and such). Where I do think there is value in being able to spell, I don't think it is a great sign of intelligence

by Anonymous 1 month ago

Exactly this. My students don't know how to type. Yay budget cuts

by Pure-Astronaut-939 1 month ago

Correct. AI only makes it worse.

by DeliciousBison 1 month ago

That's what I was telling my wife about using AI to write better things, it won't help us do better if we just give it to AI to regurgitate

by Anonymous 1 month ago

it's the same when it comes to most things. I know people who lived in LA longer than I have (9 years) and don't know which way is east, or west. They can't get anywhere without gps. Some ppl can't do basic math without a calculator. I think phones and technology in general make ppl dumber. When you don't have to use those basic skills daily they begin to deteriorate.

by Anonymous 1 month ago

To be fair, spelling in English is so stupid. In other languages it's so much easier to spell because words are spelled like they sound. In English, nothing is spelled like it sounds. It such a dumb hodgepode language with weird unspoken grammatical rules and other nonsense.

by Anonymous 1 month ago

I disagree. I'd still be bad at spelling, more people would just know about it.

by Anonymous 1 month ago

More often than not I have to fight the auto correct. Also the suggestions are laughable and I'm using an "AI keyboard."

by Anonymous 1 month ago

Accurate. It should be used as a tool not a crutch. More and more education is being done digitally so kids aren't learning to write by hand and spell correctly in an environment without autocorrect or spell check. At least not for as long as previous years. I was right on the cusp with my 8th grade class being the last in my district to use physical textbooks in middle school. It has increased access to information and learning materials at the cost of foundational skills. There's good and bad to it but the more reliant you become on it, the less viable you will be if it's suddenly unavailable, whether your phone dies, power is out, or a system crash effectively burns your documentation and it has to be rebuilt from scratch.

by Any-Bag1494 1 month ago

Spellchecker on the phone is a pita. It's always deciding that I meant something else.

by Ruthe99 1 month ago

I agree thats why i turned that feature off, unfortunately it just shows i dont read while i type, but that aside it has helped me keep my edge. Also i never encountered predicitve text before, sounds interesting but also slightly annoying.

by Anonymous 1 month ago

This reeks of ableism Or at best, a superiority complex

by Jealous_Attorney_723 1 month ago

Well, it's certainly unpopular

by strosinrylee 1 month ago

You know there were lots of people who couldn't spell before spellcheck, right? Illiteracy is lower than it's ever been in history. This isn't an opinion it's just wrong.

by BuyForward9645 1 month ago

And lots of types of people. I once asked my wife to ask one of her co-workers who was a PhD for a letter of recommendation for my son. He was happy to. I wasn't very impressed. Full of spelling errors. So much for those "pieces of paper" hanging on his office wall.

by Tristinreynolds 1 month ago

Grammar isn't even a secondary job skill. More of a tertiary job skill. Plenty of very successful people who can't spell.

by Dry-System 1 month ago

Was the PhD in writing letters of recommendation? Spelling errors are seriously enough for you to undermine a lifetime of work and study in a field?

by Starkjamel 1 month ago

I agree, I turn on spellcheck all the time.

by bergeayana 1 month ago

I agree. I could not write without spellcheck and also, I can't write with it either. So, pretty dumb!

by Anonymous 1 month ago

People are smart at a ton of things that aren't spelling. You're judging everyone's intelligence based on a single metric. I hope you haven't said this around any friends who have chosen to hide their dyslexia from you.

by Anonymous 1 month ago

Agreed! I have seen my own grammar and spelling affected negatively because of spellcheck/grammar tools!

by Anonymous 1 month ago

texting devices have features built into them to make it obvious when someone depends on them

by HotCut7192 1 month ago

That's obviously true, yeah.

by National_Pop 1 month ago

Same take as "calculators are making people dumber" tbh

by Affectionate_You1637 1 month ago

Map apps too

by Unlikely_Stand 1 month ago

Do something about it then

by Anonymous 1 month ago

Wat u mean? Eli5

by bertamuller 1 month ago

People would have just found other ways to get dumber.

by Resident-Ambition141 1 month ago

I know how to spell I just have horrible fingers when I type

by Big_Profile_6290 1 month ago

No... its not making people dumber. Its just that more dumb people use phones. That's all it is.

by Far-Intention 1 month ago

You forgot the period in your title.

by Bergnaumkatelyn 1 month ago

I don't use them either on my cell phone (only spellcheck for professional work) but there is a vast difference between the three. My mental arithmetic skills have decreased slightly because I don't regularly use them in my personal or professional life as an adult, and any time I need to do it, I have access to be a calculator which is nearly as fast and nearly guaranteed to be correct. I don't think that means I'm stupider—I still know how to do math. But certain skills have become arbitrary.

by strosinrylee 1 month ago

I've noticed some words are wrongly marked as incorrect by them which has helped me learn how to actually spell lol

by hammesmaxime 1 month ago

I don't know if I agree. If you have something that does it for you, you start to eventually pick up on stuff..

by Octaviakassulke 1 month ago

My husband is smart and is forever reading however, he is a terrible speller and uses spellcheck. There are people that don't use spellcheck but should.

by Anonymous 1 month ago

grammar is a social construct

by Anonymous 1 month ago