Cyrano sees illiteracy as a 1%er conspiracy; forgets about DUmb****s like Nadin

[BannedFromDU]

Cyrano


 
We don’t need no stinkin’ literacy


Voice recognition software has been around for some time and is becoming ever more sophisticated. Many who have difficulty typing are pouncing on it and why not? Why struggle with a keyboard when the spoken word can instantly be turned into the printed word.

Newer voice software even negates the need for a mouse. All you have to do is tell the computer what you want to do. For example, just say “email,” dictate the contents, say “send” and you’re done.

How long do you suppose it will be before those at the receiving end are “too busy” to read an email? Wouldn’t it be more convenient to have it automatically read out loud? I assume that software that does this is under development, if not already available.

Call me a Luddite, but I find this “progress” disturbing. Taken to its logical conclusion, it would negate the need for writing or reading for children being born today. (Of course, there would have to be an elite corps of people who retain those skills so they could produce further developments for mankind.)

It seems self-apparent that writing and reading involves far more thought than speaking and listening. I believe that the loss of writing and reading skills would drastically reduce human beings’ ability to think -- and therefore to reason.

Four or five hundred years ago, very few people were able to read and write. It’s fair to say that the invention of the moveable-type printing press produced wide-spread literacy and essentially led to The Age of Reason, The Enlightenment and The Renaissance. Illiteracy is a gift to would-be oppressors.

If the vast majority of humans were unable to read and write, we would return to an age in which 1% of wealthy barons controlled the other 99% -- the peasants. We’re almost there now thanks to the Koch brothers and their ilk, Republican wingnuts, and the ignorant people who vote for them. The ability to communicate with each other through the written word is crucial to our ability to push back and establish a more equitable system. Not to mention that they are basic skills of an advanced, civilized society.

To sum up this rant, I’m always skeptical of new “conveniences” that effectively encourage people not to think. The results of non-thought are apparent among voters who swallow what’s served up by Fox “News” and Rush Limbaugh.

(Note: Voice recognition software is a blessing for countless thousands of people with disabilities and they are not who I’m talking about here.)

Yeah, it's about time someone blew the lid off of the insidious VOICE RECOGNITION SOFTWARE being forced upon us.

WHAT.THE.****???

Hey, Cyrano? Deal with the illiterates at DU FIRST, and then worry about other people. You can start with, oh, NADIN, who couldn't spell CAKE if you offered her some. Then move on to all the idiots over there who insist that HYPOCRISY is really spelled HYPOCRACY, not to mention the fear of MARSHALL LAW.

Idiot.

[GOBUCKS]

It sounds like the DUmpmonkey is jealous of people who have Siri.

[franksolich]

Now we have the primitives explained to us:

It seems self-apparent that writing and reading involves far more thought than speaking and listening. I believe that the loss of writing and reading skills would drastically reduce human beings’ ability to think -- and therefore to reason.

Thank you, Oscar!

[SSG Snuggle Bunny]

Unio teachers are definitely spending too much time screaming at autistic kids.

[67 Rover]

To sum up this rant, I’m always skeptical of new “conveniences” that effectively encourage people not to think.

Really, and what are your thoughts on pot again?

[Vagabond]

The opposite is true.  Being able to dictate an e-mail and proofread it merely enhances productivity.  Being able to read and listen the e-mail would enhance the ability to retain the information in the e-mail would involve both hearing and vision lobes of the brain and enhance critical and retention of the information.

Being able to dictate to a computer the size, shape, material type, thickness, and other features of a widget and having it generate a autocad drawing will be a great advancement. 

DUmmies are Luddites almost as often as they are liars.  The only reason it is almost as often is that they are more than happy to run out for the new I-pad while complaining about Chinese labor.