Did Spellbound Show Us the Power or the Myth of the American Dream? | Hacker News Reader

Did Spellbound Show Us the Power or the Myth of the American Dream?

smithsonianmag.com

34 pointsbootload9 comments

Anyone have a link on mobile that works? It starts with a full screen ad that when I try to x, opens the ad in a new window and doesn't even close the original ad

> neat but useless skill

Useless skill?! Spelling?

Sad is the day - though much is explained - that a 'journalist' of some description calls spelling a useless skill!

Dictionaries both started and ended the need to memorize correct spelling.

Actually, given the vast number of homophones, the ability to spell correctly is extremely important. First, because spelling correctors often pick the wrong correction in response to a typo. Second, because a good spelling corrector has to lack a lot of important words (else it is prone to false positives).

Sorry if this is obvious but I am glad to see swiping-style keyboards on our phones and tablets. I'd someone says we don't need to know how to spell, I can just ask them if they use a swiping keyboard. If they say yes, it is easy to convince them that we should have at least some concept of spelling.

There is a large difference in effort needed for being good at spelling and for becoming the best in the world. Not a perfect analogy but you wouldn't call competitive eating a very useful skill just because eating is useful. Also, as a side remark, in most languages I am familiar with competitive spelling would not be a thing. English is rather unique in that it does not enforce spelling or pronunciation rules on foreign words and prefers to take them as is instead.

It doesn't best in the world though, does it, it determines best in the competition.

I don't really follow your analogy either - surely it's more like knowing how to cook or eat a food, or whether something's edible.

I'd have thought almost any skill is useless at a competitive level.

The English schoole-master teaching all his schollers, of what age soever, the most easie, short, and perfect order of distinct reading, and true writing our English-tongue, that hath euer yet beene knowne or published by any. And further also, teacheth a direct course, hovv any vnskilfull person may easily both vnderstand any hard English words, ... Deuised for thy sake that wantest any part of this skill, by Edward Coote, Master of the Free-schoole in Bury St. Edmond.

The English Schoole Maister http://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eebo/A19300.0001.001/1:5.1?rgn=d...

Spelling is useful but I don't understand how competitive spelling is useful. Most of my spelling errors are because of accidentally hitting the wrong key or a weird auto-correct so knowing how to spell every word wouldn't really even meaningfully reduce spelling errors for me

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