Posted by Dennis D Broadbooks on 1/20/05 8:43am
Msg #17435

The Next Time the Spelling Police...

...make an attempt to rid the board of those who misspell a word or two, remember this:

**********************************************************************

"The paragraph below make look weird, but believe it or not...you can read it.

I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdgnieg. Bcaeuse of the phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearchr at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.

Amzanig huh? Yaeh and I awlyas tuhoght slpeling was ipmorantt!"

Reply by Shane_IN on 1/20/05 10:24am
Msg #17444

Before you believe spam emails :)

While the point about the human mind reading whole words at a time is true, the rest of the message is somewhat misleading. There are several other reasons that you can read the message.

First, the human mind understands context. Once it starts to formulate an idea by getting a few words, it can automatically guess what the surrounding words will be based on context. For example, take the phrase "cluod aulaclty" out of context, and it will take you longer to get "could actually."

Second, if you keep the first and last letter then in most cases the word will phonetically be very similar to the original word. Even though you may read the message silently, your mind is still processing the words phonetically, and when combined with context, the mind quickly identifies the appropriate word.

Third, if you look closely, especially at the larger words, they haven't really jumbled the letters up in a truly random fashion, they have just mixed them a little. For example, it is much easier to get "University" from the word "Uinervtisy" than say, "Uertiivsny." This latter point is what makes the whole message misleading. They have purposely organized the letters within each word to still resemble the original word. However, even Uertiivsny would still be interpreted rather easily - not because the mind reads whole words at a time, but because it is preceded by the phrase "research at Cambridge." Who wouldn't automatically put University next? Also, there are only about 5 different phonetic sounds in the word University, and leaving the first and last already gives you two of the five.

Yes, the human mind is amazing, but this email is really more of an exercise of how the mind can be duped into believing something is true when it is not, or true for the wrong reasons.

Reply by Dennis D Broadbooks on 1/20/05 10:57am
Msg #17450

The Intent...

...was NOT to dupe anyone into believing the "scientific" aspects of this little exercise in wordplay. It was to illustrate a point in a lighthearted manner. Me tinhkset tohu has tkaen tihs to an etxemre!

Reply by HisHughness on 1/20/05 11:16am
Msg #17452

Re: Before you believe spam emails :)

Shane_IN provided an insightful analysis of the fallacies underlying the earlier posting regarding misspellings. Choam Nomsky, the world's foremost linguist, probably couldn't have done it better. I just wish Shane had applied the same level of insight to the continuing problem of inane questions from lazy or totally unprepared neophyte notaries when he addressed that issue.

Reply by Shane_IN on 1/20/05 1:08pm
Msg #17478

Re: Before you believe spam emails :)

Touche My friend, Touche

Reply by Eatha/PA on 1/21/05 9:27am
Msg #17583

Re: Before you believe spam emails :)

I like having my illusions punctured like this - I learn something!

Reply by kmnotary_CA on 1/20/05 10:24am
Msg #17445

Eennis,
Yep, amazing, I did read the whole thing, and you're right. Hey, you must have a lot of time on your hands, or needed a stress reducer to come up with this one.

Now Brenda has competition.....L)

Kathy

Reply by Dennis D Broadbooks on 1/20/05 10:51am
Msg #17449

I'll NEVER...

...be Brenda by any stretch of the imagination! As for time on my hands, this was sent to me by a friend of mine. I simply copied it & passed it along. I thought it was relevant in only ONE way & that was to poke fun at those who've been so critical of others for their lack of spelling acumen. I found it to be the perfect parody!

Reply by kmnotary_CA on 1/20/05 11:21am
Msg #17454

Re: I'll NEVER...

Well, as one that doesn't read spam, nor forwarded emails I found this to be cute.

Even if you't NEVER be a Brenda, I now have another person whose posts i can add to my favorites.

Reply by CarolynCO on 1/20/05 7:42pm
Msg #17540

Dennis didn't create this one -- it's been around for quite some time.

Reply by HisHughness on 1/20/05 7:47pm
Msg #17541

CarolynCO declares:

***Dennis didn't create this one -- it's been around for quite some time.***

Carolyn, I'm offended. I would never accuse Dennis of being creative.

Reply by Susie/OH on 1/20/05 2:42pm
Msg #17499

Hraooy, I kenw I dndi't need taht Eglnish casls. (M/N)