Ideot or Not?

Just curious: Is poor spelling an indicator of low intelligence?

(Disclosure: I have a vested interest in the answer.)

Comments

[Somebody]

Why yes, yes it is, but a very (did I say very? I meant VERY) unreliable one. It and its prevalence are also indicators of a host of other things, e.g. the writer was in a hurry and/or had other priorities, the state of education, etc. etc.

What this of course means is what I'm sure you already know, namely that it makes little to no sense to judge a person by their spelling. Much better to look at what they actually have to say.

In other words, the same as in so many things in life - look at the content, not the packaging.

*

Poor grammar, on the other hand, gives one a bit more reason to suspect that it is also accompanied by confused thought. Not, you know, so much as to dismiss a person's arguments based on poor grammar alone, but nevertheless, it's an indicator I would usually trust more than spelling. (Let's just say that confused grammar is generally more telling than spelling, shall we?)

At the very least, poor grammar makes following the intended train of thought a bit more demanding and much more unreliable. (Still, linguistic capability is far from being the only form of intelligence, and we haven't even touched the curious possibility of a seemingly unintelligible person having their own intricate grammar for expressing their thoughts. ;-)

[dhaase]

Know!

[Carlos Teixeira]

This is Carlos Teixeira, from Brazil.

No, poor spelling does not indicate low inteligence, but it gives a bad impression on the speech. Here our president makes a lot of mistakes when speaking, and he assumes that, and sometimes his mistakes catches more the attention than the speech itself.

I hope my mistakes in English doesn't give the impression I'm in low inteligence... :-)

[Gette]

No, it's just an indicator that the person is too lazy to use the spellcheck.

[Beverly]

Spell check doesn't catch all errors!!!! I'm a decent speller but I use the dictionary when I'm unsure or if I want a definition of an unfamiliar word.

[Su]

No, it isn't, but I agree that it is probably an indicator of laziness.

[JeffConn]

Poor spelling indicates either low intelligence or laziness.

Also, an affinity for ALL CAPS. ;-)

[Laurie]

I submit that it indicates brilliance, in that the writer is far too concerned with matters of vast importance to give a second thought or ounce of grey matter to the menial spelling of words. Or at least that's what I tell myself. That said, I refuse to resort to "txt" spelling, even when texting, it drives me crazy!

[elanor]

actually it's not. I do testing for people with learning disabilities and poor spelling is NOT and indication of intelligence, sadly a lot of people think this and it causes poor spellers to think they can't achieve and that they are stupid, nothing could be further from the truth. I have one kid who has an IQ in the top 1%, he's an atrocious speller.

[Kai]

I believe that lacking a natural inclunation to great spelling does not indicate low intelligence. I believe that choosing not to improve one's spelling does show a lack of intelligence. So while I don't look down on someone who needs to look up a lot of words, and use the spell check, and then have a friend proofread for grammar issues (poor grammar is way worse than spelling), I do lose respect for someone who writes a professional letter, or resume, or anything beyond quick chats, and doesn't care to ensure good english.

[Simpler Living]

This is a topic near and dear to my heart, Dave, because I'm a copy editor and care about language.

I don't think that poor spelling skills equal low intelligence. I think it's a matter of education. My sister has always been whip-smart, but she was a terrible speller until she went to college as a non-traditional student in her late 20s. She majored in English and worked her butt off, and her spelling skills improved noticeably.

Spelling is one of my personal strengths, but I think it's because I read so many books, especially classic ones, while I was growing up. I just absorbed it while I was reading. If I'd grown up reading Perez Hilton, I doubt I'd be a good speller.

What worries me is the subset of people who think that spelling doesn't matter in the Internet era, and that people who care about grammar and usage are stodgy and out of touch with reality. I'm more likely to trust and read the opinions of someone whose blog isn't riddled with errors. Children need time to learn, but adults who say it doesn't matter are making excuses.

Spellcheck can be a useful tool, but relying on it to catch errors is a mistake. It's notorious in newspaper copy-editing circles.

[Derrick Mayfield]

No, I don't believe poor spelling indicates low intelligence. I believe it most reliably reveals either laziness or ignorance. If what someone has to say isn't important enough for them to ensure proper spelling, it isn't important enough for me to read. As for your original question and the aforementioned ignorance, I refer to one of my favorite quotes of unknown origin, attributed to my cousin until MY ignorance is remedied. "Ignorance does not equal stupidity, unless taken in massive quantities."

[Dave Hill]

No, its laziness.

Maybe not to spellcheck but to proofread.

[Somebody]

You never did disclose your own opinion on this. Care to? (It's ok if you prefer not to.)