Will Eloquent Writing Be Valued

In The Future?
Paul Bimler

In the novel 1984, George Orwell predicted the rise of a language

known as Newspeak. A language of oppression, Newspeak is
designed to limit freedom of thought, and thus synonyms, antonyms,
and undesirable concepts are all absent from it. It is a language
that makes people think how the regime wants them to, and any
thought that cannot be expressed in Newspeak is designated as
thoughtcrime.
I think Orwells prediction may eventually come true. But it wont be
enforced by a totalitarian government. It will simply arise out of pure
laziness.

Technology, the internet, text speak and the ubiquitous emoji are
changing language. New words are being introduced on a weekly,
almost daily basis. But are these words symptomatic of an evolution,
or a de-evolution of our collective consciousness?
Will the ability to speak and write eloquently still be valued 10, 20,
50, 100 years from now? Or, will it eventually be considered inferior
to the skills of hype, sensationalism and social media output?
Such things keep me awake at night.
The decline of writing skills has been well documented over the last
few decades. Most agree that technology is to blame. Everyone from
employers to university lecturers have bemoaned the lack of literacy
skills in todays generation of students and job seekers.
Its not just that students arent demonstrating critical thinking
skills in their writing, basic competencies like proper syntax,
spelling, and even proper structure are being done very
poorly. Teachers have been reporting anecdotally that even
compared to five years ago, many are seeing declines in
vocabulary, grammar, writing, and analysis (e.g. Westin, 2013;
Bloomberg News, 2012).
Azadeh Aalai, Why Cant College
Students Write Anymore?
As time goes on I believe that the current generation will unite in their
illiteracy. At that point and its happening already the use of
uncommon, obscure words will be frowned upon, seen as archaic
and unnecessary.
As a teacher I have been criticized by students for using words that
require them to reach for a dictionary. Words like negligent, oblique,
fastidious, ostentatious and divulge, are bothersome to the modern
student. Why use such words when much simpler words are

available, they ask. Slack replaces negligent. Off-handed replaces

oblique. Fussy replaces fastidious, and so on.
To a degree, I think they have a point, but when we replace a group
of synonyms (inform, notify, brief, alert, confide) with one word (tell),
we lose access to a whole palette of subtle nuance.
In the field of fiction, also, I believe the finely-crafted sentence will
eventually take second place to the hype, the sensation, the
contentious subject.
Trends in language use cannot be avoided. Once set in motion they
are irreversible. The proliferation of technology has sent literacy
down a path from which it will likely never return.
Young people are now in editing positions, publishing positions,
positions where they act as gatekeepers for the literary world.
Increasingly we will see literary proficiency as an outdated skill.
Hype, social media proficiency and sensationalism will become the
new literary badges of honour.
Now I want to hear your thoughts on the matter. Debate, discuss,
confer, converse, exchange views.
Or just comment.