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Grammarly might seem like an improvement if you have poorly developed grammar, but it’s a limited substitute for educating yourself in the English language. Wh

Grammarly might seem like an improvement if you have poorly developed grammar, but it’s a limited substitute for educating yourself in the English language. Why? Because if you outsource expression to an app you lose the personal dimension of your thoughts. This is more than nuance - it is a straight jacket because it stops you from thinking about what you are saying.

brigandish 5y ago
I agree. I often notice the strong correlation between a high level of writing skill and those who have considered a subject well and can express a point clearly, and the opposite, those who seem to have no idea what a comma or full stop is, or the difference between your and you're, and the way that - once I've finally unpacked what it is they're trying to convey - I find their reasoning is also of a comparable, very low quality. I don't think that giving everyone the gift of good grammar would create a world of geniuses but it might do what every other useful tool in history has done, help "level up" those at the bottom to a better standard (of, in this case, reasoning) and free those at the upper levels to really create.
- fourtrees 5y ago
  You may be right, but could your bias towards those who don't use Standard English (Orthography) be influencing your judgement of their reasoning skills? I wonder what a study comparing the reasoning skills of a user of SE communication with those of a vernacular or ill-educated user would show if the argument were kept the same.
  - wombatmobile 5y ago
    You make a good point about the legitimacy of vernaculars. Separate to idiom is the process of rewriting, whereby rough thoughts are honed to sharp points. “I have rewritten — often several times — every word I have ever published. My pencils outlast their erasers.” ― Vladimir Nabokov “Revision means throwing out the boring crap and making what’s left sound natural.” ― Laurie Halse Anderson “Secure writers don't sell first drafts. They patiently rewrite until the script is as director-ready, as actor-ready as possible. Unfinished work invites tampering, while polished, mature work seals its integrity.” ― Robert McKee “When asked about rewriting, Ernest Hemingway said that he rewrote the ending to A Farewell to Arms thirty-nine times before he was satisfied. Vladimir Nabokov wrote that spontaneous eloquence seemed like a miracle and that he rewrote every word he ever published, and often several times. And Mark Strand, former poet laureate, says that each of his poems sometimes goes through forty to fifty drafts before it is finished.” ― Susan M. Tiberghien, One Year to a Writing Life: Twelve Lessons to Deepen Every Writer's Art and Craft “I do so much writing. But so much of it never goes anywhere, never sees any light of day. I suppose that's like gardening in the basement. I don't publish so much of what I write. I just seem to plow it back into the soil of what I write after it, rewriting and rewriting, thinking that somehow it gets better after the fifty-second-time around. I need to learn to abandon my writing. To let go of it. Dispose of it, like tissue.” ― J.R. Tompkins “Writing a first draft is like groping one's way into a dark room, or overhearing a faint conversation, or telling a joke whose punchline you've forgotten. As someone said, one writes mainly to rewrite, for rewriting and revising are how one's mind comes to inhabit the material fully.” ― Ted Solotaroff
  - brigandish 5y ago
    It might be an interesting study but I'd have to wonder what kind of bias one could have against non-standard English usage unless one was an English teacher. Or conversing with an American, the spelling might tip me over the edge! ;-)
- telesilla 5y ago
  >once I've finally unpacked what it is they're trying to convey - I find their reasoning is also of a comparable, very low quality. One of the most brilliant inventors I know has terrible written grammar due to dyslexia. I'd be careful with such blanket statements.
  - brigandish 5y ago
    A strong correlation isn't a blanket statement, and I'm referring there to my experience. How many dyslexic and brilliant inventors would I need to have conversations with before the correlation weakens to nothing?

brigandish 5y ago

I agree. I often notice the strong correlation between a high level of writing skill and those who have considered a subject well and can express a point clearly, and the opposite, those who seem to have no idea what a comma or full stop is, or the difference between your and you're, and the way that - once I've finally unpacked what it is they're trying to convey - I find their reasoning is also of a comparable, very low quality. I don't think that giving everyone the gift of good grammar would create a world of geniuses but it might do what every other useful tool in history has done, help "level up" those at the bottom to a better standard (of, in this case, reasoning) and free those at the upper levels to really create.

fourtrees 5y ago
You may be right, but could your bias towards those who don't use Standard English (Orthography) be influencing your judgement of their reasoning skills? I wonder what a study comparing the reasoning skills of a user of SE communication with those of a vernacular or ill-educated user would show if the argument were kept the same.
- wombatmobile 5y ago
  You make a good point about the legitimacy of vernaculars. Separate to idiom is the process of rewriting, whereby rough thoughts are honed to sharp points. “I have rewritten — often several times — every word I have ever published. My pencils outlast their erasers.” ― Vladimir Nabokov “Revision means throwing out the boring crap and making what’s left sound natural.” ― Laurie Halse Anderson “Secure writers don't sell first drafts. They patiently rewrite until the script is as director-ready, as actor-ready as possible. Unfinished work invites tampering, while polished, mature work seals its integrity.” ― Robert McKee “When asked about rewriting, Ernest Hemingway said that he rewrote the ending to A Farewell to Arms thirty-nine times before he was satisfied. Vladimir Nabokov wrote that spontaneous eloquence seemed like a miracle and that he rewrote every word he ever published, and often several times. And Mark Strand, former poet laureate, says that each of his poems sometimes goes through forty to fifty drafts before it is finished.” ― Susan M. Tiberghien, One Year to a Writing Life: Twelve Lessons to Deepen Every Writer's Art and Craft “I do so much writing. But so much of it never goes anywhere, never sees any light of day. I suppose that's like gardening in the basement. I don't publish so much of what I write. I just seem to plow it back into the soil of what I write after it, rewriting and rewriting, thinking that somehow it gets better after the fifty-second-time around. I need to learn to abandon my writing. To let go of it. Dispose of it, like tissue.” ― J.R. Tompkins “Writing a first draft is like groping one's way into a dark room, or overhearing a faint conversation, or telling a joke whose punchline you've forgotten. As someone said, one writes mainly to rewrite, for rewriting and revising are how one's mind comes to inhabit the material fully.” ― Ted Solotaroff
- brigandish 5y ago
  It might be an interesting study but I'd have to wonder what kind of bias one could have against non-standard English usage unless one was an English teacher. Or conversing with an American, the spelling might tip me over the edge! ;-)
telesilla 5y ago
>once I've finally unpacked what it is they're trying to convey - I find their reasoning is also of a comparable, very low quality. One of the most brilliant inventors I know has terrible written grammar due to dyslexia. I'd be careful with such blanket statements.
- brigandish 5y ago
  A strong correlation isn't a blanket statement, and I'm referring there to my experience. How many dyslexic and brilliant inventors would I need to have conversations with before the correlation weakens to nothing?