I'm worried that all these spelling checkers, all over the place and easy looking up the spelling with google and so fourth. Have been weakening peoples spelling skills.
Also, I wonder how much less people read (books/magazines/stuff), these days, compared to a number of decades ago. Which also might weaken peoples abilities in some areas.
Also, with common place, modern day emails, texts, printers and other modern aids. There is less and less opportunity, for people to keep their handwriting skills, in regular practice.
Quote from: Socrates on <Error: integer underflow>
And now, since you are the father of writing, your affection for it has made you describe its effects as the opposite of what they really are. In fact, it will introduce forgetfulness into the soul of those who learn it: they will not practice using their memory because they will put their trust in writing, which is external and depends on signs that belong to others, instead of trying to remember from the inside, completely on their own.
Thanks!
That is a very, very good point. History repeating itself.
(IIRC) When calculators were first, being introduced to schools, and were suddenly rapidly becoming cheaper and cheaper, and much more common place, and people would make jokes on the lines of, a calculator would come free inside a Kellogg's cornflake packet (which use to come with, free tiny/small toys, to persuade kids, to nag their parents to get those particular cereal packets).
Because they would cause, mass loss of the populations abilities to perform mental arithmetic, WITHOUT a calculator.
Also, it would stop people from practising doing standard arithmetic calculations, using pen and paper.
I think (IIRC), there was a significant outcry, when cheap Biro-pens (i.e. NOT fountain pens), became very common-place. Because "
handwriting isn't proper, without being done, with a quality fountain ink pen".
The reality is fountain pens, can cause terrible permanent ink mess all over the place, on clothes and hands, and the ink can smudge like crazy. It also tends to leak through to the other side of the paper, and the pens can leak, badly from pockets, making an awful mess.