Will humans forget how to talk?

[Front-Ranger]

Reading Parade Magazine, which says that Stephen Hawking is getting a new computer voice. "'I am in touch with a company that hopes to replicate my voice,' Hawking, 68, says."

Says? Stephen Hawking says? I think he probably emailed the reply, don't you think? I'm seeing this all over, people "saying" things when they're actually writing them. No, typing them.

Why do we prefer our fingers over our voices?

[Jeff Wrangler]

Reading Parade Magazine, which says that Stephen Hawking is getting a new computer voice. "'I am in touch with a company that hopes to replicate my voice,' Hawking, 68, says."

Says? Stephen Hawking says? I think he probably emailed the reply, don't you think? I'm seeing this all over, people "saying" things when they're actually writing them. No, typing them.

Why do we prefer our fingers over our voices?

Have you listened to some people talk these days? Statements so full of ums and likes that you can get lost listening before they stop for breath.

[Front-Ranger]

You are undoubtedly right. The only time I've listened to people talk lately is during teleconferences at work. Engineers don't use um or like very often. I've enjoyed the occasional lunch with a friend, and my friends are unusually articulate. I am so blessed. But, when I work out and watch TV, I keep the sound off and I only listen to NPR on the radio. Not very many ums and likes there.

Where I have noticed those words cropping up is in print interviews. I noticed it very much in an interview with Maggie Gyllenhaal...so many "likes"!! People who use 'like' a lot are very ironic and referential, which I find very tiresome. Even my own children rarely use the word "like" as a filler.

The sad state of language has caused me to find refuge in old books. I'm currently enjoying Watership Down which is the story of rabbits with excellent language skills, and I'm also delighting in reading the witty exchanges between Watson and Holmes in the complete volumes of the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. And no, I haven't found Holmes to be a martial arts expert yet!!

[Jeff Wrangler]

Of course, thanks to e-mail and texting, an awful lot of people can no longer write a decent, correct, coherent English sentence, so can forgetting how to talk be far behind? 

[Monika]

I doubt humans will forget how to talk. Take for instance how important music and singing are to us. The sound of human voices are important to us.


I think it´s a good thing to remember what the purpose of language is; communication. As long as our language fullfills that purpose, I think we´re fine.

[Front-Ranger]

I hope you are right, friend! When I crave the sound of another's voice, I will turn on my ipod. Maybe that will help.

[Front-Ranger]

Article in the WSJ this morning..."Sick of this text: Sorry I'm late". Substituting text for presence is indeed out of control among the young.