There is a piece of technology you probably use every day.
You expect it to be there.
You rarely thank it.
You may not even notice it…
UNTIL IT STOPS WORKING.
I am going to reveal it at the END.
No cheating.
And yes…
There is something unusual about this post already.
I have been using this technology for yeers.
Really…
Who hasn’t?
It helps make me more mainstream, more professional and more effective in my posts, comments, business writing and blogging at large.
It is one of those things we take completely for granted.
But if somebody took it away tomorrow…
Oh boy.
You would not like what happened nextt.
TECHNOLOGY REVEALED AT THE END OF THE POST
No racing ahead either.
Stay with me.
I want you to experiance the value of this little invention before I tell you exactly what it is.
Because sometimes the best way to appreciate something…
Is to remove it.
IT’S ABSENCE WOULD SHAKE YOUR WORRLD
Think about electricity.
You walk into a room.
Flip the switch.
LIGHT.
You expect it.
You don’t celebrate.
You don’t say:
“Ladies and gentlemen, electricity worked again today!”
You simply expect performance.
Then one day…
CLICK.
Nothing.
Now electricity suddenly becomes the most important subject in your house.
Funny how that workss.
This technology is similar.
You expect it to quietly perform.
And most of the time…
IT DOES.
DO NOT TAKE THIS TOOL AWAY FROM ME
If this little tool disappeared tomorrow…
Business communication would slow down.
Emails would look differant.
Reports would look different.
Posts would look different.
Resumes.
Contracts.
Letters.
Comments.
Presentations.
Social media.
Everything involving the written word would suddenly expose people in ways they are not accustomed to.
And yes…
YOU ARE EXPERIANCING A LITTLE OF THAT RIGHT NOW.
BEING KNOWN FOR THE WRONG REASONS
Before technology began helping us…
People had to rely much more heavily on:
Memory.
Schooling.
Dictionaries.
Proofreading.
Other people.
I remember having to look things up.
How do you spell this?
Is it I before E?
Two L’s?
One S?
Double consonant?
Nobody wanted to appear ignorant simply because a word decided to contain an extra letter.
But written language is unforgiving.
You can have something brilliant to say…
And one misspelled word jumps off the page yelling:
LOOK AT MEEE!
LOOK AT THAT… WOULD YOU?
This is what fascinates me.
A person can spend two hours putting together:
A thoughtful post.
A meaningful argument.
A great business proposal.
A brilliant idea.
Then somebody reads the whole thing and comments:
“You spelled ‘receive’ wrong.”
That’s it?
THAT’S WHAT YOU GOT OUT OF THIS?
Welcome to human beings.
We notice what sticks out.
And spelling sticks out.
SEEING IS BELEIVING
There.
Did you see that?
Of course you did.
You probably noticed the spelling before you noticed the sentence.
That is the point.
An error steals attention from the message.
The reader stops thinking about:
WHAT YOU SAID
and begins thinking about:
HOW YOU SAID IT.
That is expensive.
THE MESSAGE CAN BE GREAT… AND STILL GET SABOTAGED
Think about business.
Suppose someone sends you a professional proposal.
Beautiful concept.
Good numbers.
Excellent plan.
Then every paragraph contains spelling mistakes.
What happens?
You start questioning:
Attention to detail.
Education.
Care.
Professionalism.
Credibility.
Maybe unfairly.
Maybe not.
But it happens.
That tiny error starts talking louder than the message.
THE TOOL QUIETLY PROTECTS US
That is what makes this technology so valuable.
It does not write the idea for you.
It does not give you character.
It does not make the argument intelligent.
It simply stands quietly in the background saying:
“Richie…
You might want to look at that word again.”
Very useful friend.
THE RED LINE OF SHAME
We all know it.
You type.
Suddenly…
RED SQUIGGLE.
Uh oh.
Something is wrong.
You look.
Maybe you are wrong.
Maybe the software does not recognize the name.
Maybe it is a technical term.
But that little line says:
CHECK THIS.
How many embarrassing errors has that line prevented?
Millions?
Billions?
Probably impossible to know.
DO WE EVEN NOTICE ANYMORE?
That is the funny part.
Technology becomes invisible when it works well.
Nobody praises:
AUTOSAVE
until the computer crashes.
Nobody praises:
GPS
until they get lost.
Nobody praises:
BACKUP
until the file disappears.
And nobody praises this little writing assistant…
Until it misses something.
Then suddenly:
HOW DID THAT GET THROUGH?
HISTORY GOES BACK FARTHER THAN MOST PEOPLE REALIZE
Computerized spelling assistance is older than many people think.
Early experiments appeared in the 1960s as researchers began using computers to compare words against stored dictionaries.
By the early 1970s, programs were being developed specifically to check ordinary English text.
Then the technology spread.
Mainframes.
Word processors.
Personal computers.
Browsers.
Phones.
Today…
It follows us almost everywhere we type.
And most people never think about the generations of programmers, linguists, dictionaries and software development that made that little red underline possible.
THE BETTER IT GETS… THE MORE WE EXPECT
At first, checking spelling was enough.
Then we wanted:
Suggested corrections.
Grammar.
Punctuation.
Capitalization.
Style.
Sentence structure.
Predictive text.
Autocorrect.
Now software practically says:
“I know what you were TRYING to say.”
Amazing.
Sometimes a little too amazing.
AUTOCORRECT HAS ITS OWN SENSE OF HUMOR
Now this deserves mention.
Spell checking saves us.
Autocorrect occasionally tries to destroy us.
You type one word.
It decides:
NO, YOU MEANT THIS.
SEND.
Then you read what you actually sent and think:
I DID NOT SAY THAT.
So even helpful technology requires:
HUMAN OVERSIGHT.
The machine assists.
You remain responsible.
That rule still holds.
DON’T LET TECHNOLOGY MAKE YOU LAZY
Here is the other side.
If software corrects everything automatically…
Do we stop learning how words are spelled?
Maybe a little.
Technology should SUPPORT ability.
Not replace all effort.
Read what you wrote.
Proofread.
Look again.
Because the software does not always understand:
Context.
Names.
Tone.
Meaning.
Humor.
Intent.
And one correctly spelled WRONG word can still ruin a sentence.
Their.
There.
They’re.
Spell checker may say:
ALL GOOD.
The reader may disagree.
YOUR EYES STILL HAVE A JOB
This is why I always recommend:
WRITE.
CHECK.
READ AGAIN.
Do not simply trust the absence of the red line.
Read the sentence.
Does it say what you intended?
Technology can tell you whether a word exists.
It cannot always tell you whether that is the word you wanted.
That remains YOUR responsibility.
YOU ARE PROBABLY READY FOR THE REVEAL
By now…
You have seen:
Yeers.
Differant.
Experiance.
Worrrld.
Workss.
Beleiving.
Maybe a few others.
And I hope each one bothered you just a little.
GOOD.
Because you have now personally demonstrated why this tool matters.
Ready?
The technologyy…
The champion…
The quiet little protector of professional writing…
The thing we almost never thank…
Is:
SPELL CHECK.
There.
Now doesn’t that feel better?
FINAL THOUGHT
Spell check does not make you intelligent.
It does not create your ideas.
It does not replace your voice.
But it removes unnecessary distractions between:
YOUR THOUGHT
and
THE READER.
That is valuable.
A great technology often becomes invisible because it works so reliably that we forget life before it.
So next time the little red line appears…
Do not curse it.
Maybe say:
THANK YOU.
Then fix the word.
PEARLS INSIGHT
Spell-checking software helps writers detect many typographical and spelling errors before they distract readers or weaken professional presentation. Early computerized spelling experiments appeared in the 1960s, while more practical general-purpose spelling-checking programs emerged in the 1970s. Modern spell checkers now work alongside autocorrect, grammar checking, predictive text, and other language tools, but human proofreading remains important because software cannot reliably determine every intended word or meaning.
PEARLS FROM THE BOOKS
A recurring principle throughout Pearls for the Soul is:
REMOVE WHAT INTERFERES WITH THE MESSAGE.
A spelling mistake may be tiny.
But if it pulls the reader away from your idea…
It has become larger than the word.
Technology should help the truth, thought, humor and personality come through more clearly.
That is good service.
PEARLS CONNECTION
This Pearl connects directly with:
THE COMMUNICATOR HAS THE RESPONSIBILITY TO COMMUNICATE
CREDIBILITY… THE CROWN JEWEL OF BELIEVABILITY
and
YOU SPEAK… BUT WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?
One says the message must arrive.
One reminds us that presentation affects believability.
One explores the strange tools we call language.
Spell check helps all three.
RICHIE SPEAKS
You can write something brilliant…
And spell one word wrong.
Guess what everybody notices?
THE WORD.
Not the brilliance.
So thank that little red squiggly line once in a while.
It has probably saved your professional reputation more times than you know.
SPELL CHECK.
Who knew?
FINAL SAY
Technology does not always need to be spectacular to change the world.
Sometimes it quietly watches your fingers…
Waits for you to mess up…
Then says:
RICHIE…
LOOK AGAIN.
And thank goodness it does.
— Richie
Pearls for the Soul
when you feed the soul, you feed everything.
pearlsforthesoul.com
Been expecting you