Copy/Paste, a Dangerous Temptation
Copy/paste, hereafter c/p, colloquially refers to copying and pasting something, such as text, in order to save time and effort. Much has been discussed about whether c/p is ruining education and the ability to write, since students commonly plagiarize information from the web for school projects; that discussion does not interest me. C/p is certainly a valuable tool that has even changed how we think about producing documents and other work. What interests me is briefly discussing how this tool can become harmful:
I think writing is a peculiar mental process. In the mind, a concept is associated with a word that can be expressed through a set of symbols; those symbols are drawn or typed, where the process branches and another discussion begins, producing a visual representation of the concept that anyone who speaks the language can understand. Speaking is different because it relies on an auditory representation of the concept. If different areas of the brain coordinate the hands and sight, or the vocal cords and hearing, the process must be different. I have reflected on this for many years. To me, proof lies in the fact that we generally do not write as we speak; even the rhythm in which language flows is different.
Likewise, it is logical that hearing and reading must be different processes. Many people find that reading or writing notes helps them remember things better. My explanation is that spoken language is natural; even other members of the animal kingdom have their own sounds, songs, and auditory calls. Written language, on the other hand, is more complex and demanding, and other animals have not developed it as far as we know. This complex process is surely an important key to what separates us from other animals, another subject for discussion. This sophisticated process of writing and reading seems deeply related to our ability to learn.
At last we reach the central issue: the danger of c/p. If we constantly copy and paste portions of text, we save time and effort but skip the writing process described above. We are not turning the concept into a word and then symbols. By skipping that process, we avoid learning from the text. Programming or web development is a good example: the first advice given to someone learning is not to copy and paste code fragments but to type them, because this helps them learn syntax faster. Some people only copy and paste every day, yet cannot write a line of code on their own. The same applies to unfamiliar words or names.
For example, suppose that we must mention an author named Karbashewsky twenty-five times. Habit tells us to copy and paste the name, but then we will not know how it is spelled or pronounced. If we had written it letter by letter, we would remember its spelling and soon no longer need to look it up. Do you see the idea?
My proposal is not to stop using c/p; typing a two-hundred-character URL would be inefficient. But when it comes to information we want to learn, this is the proposal: LET US USE OUR BRAINS.