Low Reading Comprehension and Poor Writing Skills

i will admit, i am not a very good writer. my grammar and spelling are very weak and this is pretty apparent when i write on the forum in a rush (or drunk). nevertheless, i am astounded by the complete lack of reading and writing skills that i encounter on the forum and in world.

most of the people i encounter in first life are university graduates so perhaps my perspective is skewed. are there just that many 14 year olds posing as adults or is the american education system fundamentally flawed? in other words, is no one is raising an eyebrow because this is the norm? how can the #1 country in the world produce so many illiterates?

I think there are a several reasons. One is that our schools are underfunded and don't hold people back who should rightfully fail because they can't afford to. Another is that the teachers unions protect bad teachers, stifling competition. This is made worse by the fact that teachers get paid a pathetic pittance so the best and brightest seek other careers. Another problem is that our culture prizes sex appeal, physical prowess, and material wealth over intelligence and knowledge. Smart kids get picked on and beat up which encourages them to hide their intelligence. A culture that worships sports stars and celebrities over scientists and inventors has its head pretty well up its ass.

I blame dumb adults. Most of the well written emails I get are from either 16-18 year olds geeks. Somehow not everyone on second life is a total geek(since it has to be the geekiest thing ever). There are plenty of old people suffering from computer retardation. Amazingly many of these people are bright and pleasant and intelligent in real life!

Amazing what Internet does to intelligence and the english language.

I have horrible listening comprehension for some reason. I can hear the sounds of what you say perfectly, I actually have a bit of an ear for music, but deciphering mangled words is not a specialty of mine. People have no concept of diction... not to mention a gross lack of vocabulary.

I consider typing proficiency to be quite important, since with computers, there are only several methods for entering data (input) -- and when it comes to text, the keyboard is by far the most common (voice recognition has a long way to go). It's nice that on SL, you do get typing practice by way of chatting with others, but it seems like even within that, as has been pointed out, it's important to learn how to communicate in a way that others can understand. I don't expect the total neatest "robotyping" in the world, but full sentences and well-articulated thoughts + feelings make a WORLD of difference for me. Especially since I have so many problems figuring out social signals already. Self-improvement goes a long way, and each of us can continue to grow throughout our First and Second Lives to be better people... both for ourselves and each other. I frown on stagnation!

Chip, those are fine points, and yes, there are some odd priorities in society here. The Hawkings and Einsteins of the world are all too rare. I often have also wondered why it's okay to show so much killing on primetime, and yet consensual lovin' is frowned upon. Or why peeps would rather bash/criticize others instead of improving themselves -- a real messed-up, Harrison Bergeron-esque situation. Especially with things like music, I've never "got" why there's so much hatred revolving around certain structures of ordered tones. Pfft.

Everything discussed here boils down to one sad truth: Being mediocre is ok these days. No one really cares about doing their best in anything. We do just enough to get by.

Well, I wouldn't say "no one"... I still see people who care to be excellent!

I stand corrected.

A big part of it is laziness I think. When posting in the forum, you're trying to communicate something. And I don't know if it's the excitement of the moment, or people just want to get it over with. But the lack of lower or upper case letters, no punctuation, mangled spelling, using "u" and "1" as words, etc. just detract from whatever it is they're trying to say.

Take your time. Check your apostrophes and which their/they're/there you used. Let your thought breathe with punctuation and paragraph breaks. And say what you have to say and get out of the way.

I think it's the fact that some people, no mater how intelligant they are in real life, insist on being lazy when it comes to typing thing in chat or email (they may even keep really well written blogs or other web pages.

Then again, some people really are that illiterate in real life.

Well , I know after recent polls I am not in a majority so will not speak for them. As I get older, 40 next year, even though I have completely lucid thought patterns, sometimes the typing just doesn't come out right. I used to type over 70 wpm with no mistakes. Now, I find myself hitting the backspace key alot. My brain knows what key I'm supposed to hit and I still don't look at the keyboard, it just happens. If I catch it, the backspace key gets a punch and the correct keys are hit. I have no idea what causes this and it is disconcerting. I will also take an extra second to proof what I have written. Just me, I wish more people would take a few extra seconds and express themselves lucidly. I haven't met anyone in world yet that struck me as moronic. Well, maybe a couple but I digress. I agree with previous posts that most of the occurrences must be attributed to laziness.

P.S. I highly recommend Firefox with tab browsing and dictionary.com

when i go 2 a formu i just loose all my senses i cant explain it maybe u can/ k let me no adn send too my emale adress at [email]femenem@aol.com[/email] if u find out

thx

As for a serious answer I think Chip hit every nail on the head perfectly, although I'm not sure about the lack of funding part (except in very poor areas). I don't think one of the wealthiest nations on earth really has a school funding problem, but a crapping out culture and value system, lack of parenting, and trashy environment will do wonders to earn those F's! It's a matter of effort and motivation, I don't think it's a lack of available information.

Hmm...first off, I thought long about posting this as I usually keep out of debates, but this thread got under my skin.
I'm sure my grammar, punctuation and spelling are not always perfect, as I do hurry too much when I type. Also I never learned typing in school or anywhere else, only by chatting on the computer.

It bothers me that the words *dumb*, *mediocre* and *lazy* are used here. Many SL'ers do not have english as their first language, and also consider that dyslexia may be a problem for others.

http://www.dyslexia-inst.org.uk/

Alot of people I know, don´t express themselves very good in writing either.
If you have not learned something, that does not make you *dumb*, it makes you *ignorant*...and no ignorant is not a bad word when used in the proper context.
There is a world of difference between *dumb* and *ignorant because you were not taught something well enough or at all*.

For example I am completely ignorant when it comes to math, I simply never had the brain for it. I also don't have a high school degree. Does that make me dumb?
Perhaps you are a mathematical genius but don't know how to write well, one example is Niels Bohr.

Oh and about the mention of *14 year olds posing as adults*, my son is 15 and reads and writes english nearly as well as I do, and his first language is not english either.

My father is dyslexic and he would be mighty upset to be called dumb, it bothers him alot that he does not spell good, and he always needs help to write an email or a letter. Apropos that he has no problems with math and is very intelligent in general.

Chatting on the computer is also a good way to get better at these things, imo calling people dumb, mediocre or lazy, will only make those who are not good writers afraid to say anything.
We can't all be equally good at everything.


*Slightly miffed*
My

*Puts on flame resistant suit and hides under comp table *

My,

Hey! Faroe Islands! I don't recall seeing anybody from there before.

What you say is quite valid, of course, but I think you've probably not been here long enough to see the kind of thing we have been subjected to in these forums.

I'm not familiar enough with the style to do a convincing imitation, but I'm sure someone else will oblige.

I think there is a difference beween ignorance and laziness, as you quite rightly point out. But I think on these forums what we often see is laziness, and that is certainly what I object to.

hehe, so far I have not met anyone else in SL from the faroe islands.

I've been here for nearly 4 months now. That may not be very long but i follow the forums with interrest, although i rarely post anything (don't want to be flamed )

My point is simply that although what is discussed I'm sure is true for some, also consider that for others it is not. I think this is generalised too much and is wrong to people who genuinely have a reading/writing problem/disability.

Sorry but this is a pet peeve of mine as I see it every day in my RL with my father.

Regards
My

My,

<<My point is simply that although what is discussed I'm sure is true for some, also consider that for others it is not. I think this is generalised too much and is wrong to people who genuinely have a reading/writing problem/disability.>>

Yes, I understand that, and I have to say that I don't disgree with you.

How's that for a flame?

Lovely flame, we should have more of those

The truth is ALL minors are total idiots, as are MOST adults. Uhm...except for those in the Faroe islamds.

Is that near the Faroe ISLANDS?

(Of course I'm just teasing here)

Huh?

I have long felt that although there are certain real conditions like dyslexia which may make it difficult to read-and-write, a troubling thing -- for me -- is when poor writing is coupled with rudeness and hostility. (And actually, I'm turned off by technically proficient writing that is merely a veil for longwinded personal attacks, aka my classical snob days.)

Now that tends to point towards ignorant dumbness, and as openminded as I am, I see little wiggle room for an excuse when it comes to that.

Devlin

lol

This is the reason I have been putting famous quotes at the end of every post & reply I write....... Too much ignorance in the world today, and too little class to appreciate literature these days......


"'Did you ever taste beer?' 'I had a sip of it once,' said the small servant. 'Here's a state of things!' cried Mr. Swiveller... 'She never tasted it - it can't be tasted in a sip!'" - Charles Dickens (The old curiosity shop)

Awww Adam, don't feel bad -- sometimes my fave Stephen King quotes don't get caught, and he's like the modern Dickens (with a lot more nightmares).

LOL No shit.......... Dickens on a acid trip may be more like it Tor... Three days ago I talked to this 22 year old 'kid' in a book store who was looking for something good and classical to read. I told him to check out some of Shakespeare's works. He said "Who's that?".

That just about floored me then an there.......... Ignorance is one thing, but compound ignorance is quite another.......... And Tor, I for one love your quotes......... Can't wait till the next ones... hehehe

LOL Forgot to put a quote here LOL


"Let us have wine and woman (WHOOT!), mirth and laughter, Sermons and soda-water the day after." - Lord Byron & Don Juan