Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2004/06/24
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]I can't disagree with the premise that the skills we value change - but - by any measure I've seen, our society is scientifically illiterate when compared to others in which there is universal schooling. And I'm not bemoaning the decline of writing skills from the perspective of a journalist, but rather from that of a citizen who believes that if we cannot communicate clearly, we are ultimately doomed as a society. The brilliant scientist who cannot convey his brilliance to others is far less likely to find sufficient funding for his work than the scientist who can communicate clearly - in writing and verbally. I tell the students in my undergrad science news writing class that I know full well very few of them will ever write a news story after leaving the class, and the few who do - because they work on the school paper - won't after graduating because they'll be headed for careers in the sciences. However, the skills they acquire in reducing a scientific journal report to a 350 word news story will help them in whatever they do in the future. B. D. -----Original Message----- From: lug-bounces+bdcolen=earthlink.net@leica-users.org [mailto:lug-bounces+bdcolen=earthlink.net@leica-users.org] On Behalf Of Doug Herr Sent: Thursday, June 24, 2004 12:47 AM To: Leica Users Group Subject: Re: [Leica] RE: While it is happening (B. D. Colen)writing goingdwnhll on 6/23/04 4:37 PM, B. D. Colen at bdcolen@earthlink.net wrote: > The Civil War letters are a perfect example - albeit 100 years older - > of what I've been talking about. Every day people, with basic > educations, were able to write clear, concise, well constructed prose. > > B. D. > OTOH how many people during the civil war era knew much about particle physics or the chemistry that has led to Tri-X or the CCD chip. What I'm attempting to say is that we all have our strengths anw weaknesses and the a lack of writing skills by itself does not indicate that the sky is falling in our educational system. I don't know about anyone else but when quantum mechanics got shoved into my head there wasn't room for everything and the space in my head allocated to penmanship and typing skills is one of those things that shrunk. Someone with a journalists background will bemoan the demise of writing skills such as were preserved from the Civil War era (presuming that this was the norm) while a 50-something computer professional will likewise be frustrated with the dearth of college graduates who can format a floppy disk from the command line. Technology changes and the skills we value will change or we get left in the dust of history. Doug Herr Birdman of Sacramento http://www.wildlightphoto.com _______________________________________________ Leica Users Group. See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information