Elementary Dear Watson

http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2012/05/21/153024432/sophomoric-members-of-congress-talk-like-10th-graders-analysis-shows

In recent years, there has been a heighten awareness among educators of a decline in the language used by students.  Text lingo and misspellings of the most horrendous nature have crept into term papers, answers on test, and in some cases Master's thesis (I'm sure mine had plenty of misspellings).  Gone are the days when a complete sentence is a given on worksheets.  Today's students are more apt to answer in broken text language that the Mayans might be able to read, and end the sentence with a HAHA, LOL. Those obscene smiley faces that you have to guess what they mean  have shown up on my tests, and countless times on worksheets.  Students are not the only ones.  This year I have received emails from parents without punctuation, and LOLs. By no means am I perfect, but I at least hit spell check on something I send to parents.  I suppose the same in a reply is not something I should hope for. 



Today's article from NPR is disheartening on two fronts, not the least of which is the decline in the language used by Congressman.  The second less disturbing is the fact that Congressman themselves are slightly less intelligent, but the my fear of this is overshadowed by the real problems.  Americans are just not as smart as they once were. We are peppered with athletes, moviestars, and public figures that are simply not as smart as those before them, and that filters down. Athletes sprinkle "Ya know" into interviews as if it were salt at a Golden Corral, while "Like" is used as a comma, period, and question mark in moviestar interviews on a daily basis.  No, superstar athlete, I do not know, and if you had paid attention at the University of Wherever you might have learned how to speak...wait that's not fair to the University...those guys don't stay but for a year.  The inst-celebrity culture does not help my case.  Suddenly every Ricky-Bobby Joe Bill has their own TV show, so their mutation of the English language can be heard on Discovery and History in day long showings every weekend from now until eternity. 


So what are Congressman to do?  Do they remain at the level they should communicate, and risk alienating us peons? Do they lower their expectations and perpetuate the problem?  I would argue that it does not matter. Research, and common sense, shows the people who are un-educated participate in politics, so Congress is dumbing itself down for no reason.  It is fair to say that 90% of Americans cannot name their representative to Congress, not to mention their state's General Assembly.  If Americans cannot name, much less pay attention to Congress, who cares if they dumb down their language.  I say crank it back up and leave average citizen behind.  Alienation is one of the surest ways to notice if you are wrong. 



The slightly less worrisome speculation to this decline is that Congressman could actually be less intelligent than before. There have always been the well educated in Congress, and some sleeper nerds thrown in for measure, but our political climate lends itself to being showy rather than smart. Bill Clinton is perhaps the best educated of the recent Presidents, and Congress does sport several doctors, however a quick glance at the average elected officials show several things.  One major point is that with the exception of J.Ds there are very few advanced degrees.  To me that speaks to the idea that it does not matter how smart you are, just how good you look on camera, and are able to deliver talking points.  A show business atmosphere is not the place to flex the brain muscles. 



In closing I would like to point the finger at myself.  By no means am I a perfect model for the English language.  My spelling is horrible, and at times my written grammar is not far behind.  I think too fast for my mouth, so my spoken grammar slips too.  I would like to think that if elected I would polish that, but who really knows.  My contention though is that it does not matter.  Congress lowering their communication skills is not going to fix the problem.  It will not make it worse either. Ratcheting the language up will have the effect of leaving the weaker behind which is perhaps what is needed. Our only other option is to kick all the knuckle dragging, language murders off TV, though I highly doubt that is happening in the near future.