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What is the point in memorising a dictionary and then repeating what was in it to an audience? You could say this about every form of recreation, let alone com
by chongli 7y ago
What is the point in memorising a dictionary and then repeating what was in it to an audience?
You could say this about every form of recreation, let alone competitive activity. You don't find it interesting, that's okay, different people enjoy different things.
The best spelling bee champs (the ones winning the big scholarships) are not just memorization machines, they have deep understanding of the etymology and structure of English words (which I happen to find very interesting).
If you set aside a few minutes to watch the Scripps spelling bee, you'll notice that the competitors ask about the etymology and usage of the word in a sentence. This information gives subtle clues (such as Greek or Latin roots) that a good speller can use to spell a word they've never seen before. That is an impressive feat, if you ask me!
- oneplane 7y agoI did watch a few of them, and I still didn't get it. You're not really directly competing (all you have is failure count which you cannot influence - except your own of course). I get that it can be interesting to some people but the scale of the whole thing (in the US) is what surprises me every time. Then again, I also don't get reality TV or pageants. Maybe I'm not the target audience...
- chongli 7y agoI think a big contributor to the popularity and scale of spelling bees in the US is the high cost of university tuition. Many families couldn't afford it without a scholarship.
- CydeWeys 7y agoHuh? A spelling bee is a competition in exactly the same way that a race is. You can't influence how fast your opponents run, you can only be faster than them. Same in a spelling bee; you have to last longer than your opponents.
- oneplane 7y agoI suppose there are races that are constructed so that you can not influence each other, but there are plenty where you can. At the same time, being able to spell obscure words doesn't have a wide application like being able to run, cycle, drive or swim fast has. (but those probably have their limits as well - fast cycling/running is handy when you also want to be a bike courier or need to outrun a bear, but less useful when you have a day job as a painter). I guess in the end the point I made also works against my instinct to express a dislike for arbitrary contest when I don't get the scale/following.
- chongli 7y agoI think a better comparison is a game like chess. Is chess useful outside of being a professional chess player/instructor? No. So being a chess Grandmaster is every bit as useless as being a spelling bee champion, apart from the prestige. Having said that, being able to spell obscure words is likely to increase your vocabulary, which may be useful if you decide to become a writer. Frankly, that's probably more useful than learning how to throw horseshoes.
- oneplane 7y agoOne could argue that throwing horseshoes would have gotten the same following as spelling bees would have if it were at least as good/cool ;-)