Another thought,
Like you, I find that the more passionately I feel about a subject and the more infromation I have to convey, the more errors I make. Most of my errors are consistent, from becomes form for example.
However, I do notice other phenomena.
- People who learned to 'touch type' in the classical methods used to teach typists make these errors far less frequently. I suspect because they can watch the words forming on the screen as they type.
- Those with a classical, broad and rigorous education, typical for example, of some English public schools and Australian private schools, make the mistakes less frequently. This is not universal, it depends significantly upon the attitude of the school and the teaching staff.
- Those who learned English as a second langauge, after initial difficulties with grammar and syntax were amongst the best spellers.
- Socio-economic background seems to not be an indicator. The main indicators for poor spelling and grammar in my experience are,
- narrow education base
- unfamiliarity with the written language (they don't read a lot).
- IQ is an interesting one, some of my brightest students were the most atrocious spellers. Generally however these were the ones destined not to ultimately succeed. There was a distinct correlation to attitude to language and learning that translated into success after graduation. The poor spellers with high IQ generally had a poor attitude to detail which was reflected not only in spelling and grammar but also in lab work and submitted assignments. Those of similar IQ who exhibited better spelling were more likely to produce better quality lab work, more complete and better argued assignments and generally succeeded more readily in the workplace or in research.
As a teenager I was recruited into Mensa by some friends. I didn't stick around long. The members are of very high IQ, but many of them had an arrogance about how they handled their ability. Some had a very cavalier attitude to spelling and grammar, I used to call it the "I am so brilliant that people will clamour to sort out my mess just to receive my wisdom" attitude.
My conclusion after some years of lecturing at University in the UK and Australia? Educational background and personal attitude has more to do with spelling than socio-economic factors or IQ. Followed closely of course by the "my fingers cant go as fast as my brain" phenomenon that you admit to and to which I am also prone.
Great topic! jdtoronto
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