[jacobolus]

Spellcheck is not like a handheld electronic calculator. It doesn’t write for you.

It’s more like a system that would let you practice doing arithmetic with pen and paper but then immediately show errors.

Look at how people practice board games nowadays: they try making their own moves but get a precise computer analysis to reveal when they have made a blunder on the spot, for real-time feedback. This is not the same as just watching the computer play against itself.

[OnlineGladiator]

You're thinking of it as a pedagological tool. I'm thinking of it as a crutch. The truth is in-between and will vary from person to person, but I'd bet money most people lean on it more than they learn from it.

[ses1984]

But does developing your spelling actually matter?

Maybe being able to spell perfectly is about as useful a skill as putting shoes on a horse or chipping a piece of stone into an arrowhead.

What if 100% of the time that s devoted to spelling was devoted to something else, like just reading?

[OnlineGladiator]

> But does developing your spelling actually matter?

I don't think it does. I think it's similar to how people used to lament the loss of the bard who'd memorize songs/stories as reading became increasingly popular. I was just responding on how it changes how we think.

I do think mental math matters, but most people disagree so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Mirioron]

I also think mental math matters, but I think that people who end up using simple math a lot will simply pick up the ability to do mental math as necessary.

[imron]

> It doesn’t write for you.

Modern ones kind of do - for example, gmail's spell checker now comes with predictive input.