JJ, Sam, Eric, all ...
There are two very important reasons to write. One is to share ideas
and, as all you know, ideas can come fast and furious or slip right
through your fingers if you're not quick enough. Spelling be damned
under those circumstances!
The other reason for writing is general communication. Sometimes it is
business [going for a degree is business], sometimes for comradery,
sometimes for world-wide publication. The spelling, plus level and type
of vocabulary, should vary widely amid all the reasons to communicate.
If I write "I LUV U" it can be more effective than "You are the object
of my undying devotion." The source and the intended audience determine
what is written and how.
Then there is Eric's joke about dyslexia. I don't find it funny,
because it hits too close to home for me. No, I don't have a learning
disability nor do I have dyslexia... what I do have is brain damage due
to lack of oxygen. I lost all my innate math ability [didn't need
formulae to solve things, just went toward what was "right"] and more
and more lately I've discovered there is a slight short circuit between
what I am thinking and what my fingers are typing. It's not typos but
words ... my brain sends a signal and before the signal is complete my
fingers have typed the word. But I'll end up with a different word than
I thought! I'm thinking something like "cartoon" and end up typing
"caring" ... no spell checker could catch that. I try to go back and
read what I've written, but since I know what words to expect, I often
don't see the "wrong" words.
Here, under these circumstances, I think spelling should matter only so
far as it changing the meaning of the intended thought. Other than that
I don't think anyone [native English/American speakers or not] needs to
become too precise about spelling. After all, most of us can figure out
all but the most esoteric text by the context in which we find it. If
we decide to present a paper at a major symposium on "Random Thoughts
>From Around the World Produce Fantastic Software," we can use a word
processor, spell checker, grammar checker, and even innocent proof
readers. Sounds like a good compromise to me ... :>
l.d.
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-- Arachne V1.61, NON-COMMERCIAL copy, http://arachne.cz/
