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General Asylum General audio topics that don't fit into specific categories. |
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General Asylum General audio topics that don't fit into specific categories. |
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In Reply to: Re: Strongly agree about the internet posted by caa on August 11, 2002 at 11:48:55:
However, refining one's skill in selecting what good sources are depends on having good sources to compare to. My contention is that good sources are becoming far too rare, and the internet does not inherently promote them. You are right. People write more without thinking - and more and more and more. Unfortunately, I feel the internet encourages that more than it discourages it. That could be changed, but it won't happen by accident.Our discourse here can be forgiven for its lapses to some degree because it is far more like conversation, spontaneous and free-flowing. That is not what I'm talking about. It concerns me when I read internet material from companies such as IBM, Ford, General Electric, et al and find your for you're, there for their, and myriad other examples of non-standard usage, which I am willing to call bad grammar. Bad not in the sense of E-vill, but bad in the sense of displaying a low level of linguistic awareness, quality, and integrity. Such companies can afford not to make such errors. The sin lies in not caring to.
Lincoln was able to write one of the great pieces of English literature, "The Gettysburg Address", after only a few years, at best, of formal education, because the examples of writing he was familiar with included some of the finest writers in the history of the language. He learned by example. Excellence inspires excellence. Just reading, writing, and communicating does not in itself make one a better reader, writer, and communicator. Those skills must be developed, which can happen by example, as we seem to agree.
A person will write with precision only if there is a desire to be precise. It doesn't happen by default. Don't you feel such desire is nurtured by good examples? Where are these paragons of linguistic virtues coming from these days? From newspaper and magazines written at a 5th grade reading level, which out of necessity requires utilizing a vocabulary to match?
I would be the grossest of hypocrites to damn the internet in view of how much time I spend on it. I am simply calling for an across the board increase of good language, including on the internet.
This is a fact: the size of vocabulary required to watch the nightly network news is only a tad larger than that required to watch "Sesame Street". Isn't that sad? What kind of example is that? So I join you in your observation that people write more without thinking, and infer that you would join me in an appeal that people think more before writing. Then the internet could be a valuable tool in refining skills. (Of course, we still need some bad examples for comparison, and I supply some occasionally myself.)
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Follow Ups
- No argument. I like the internet in many ways - psgary 12:41:44 08/11/02 (0)
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