Who’s the Master?
Google does spell-checking based on how frequently similarly-spelled words appear in the billions of texts they index. Many other sites do spell checking based on official references such as a dictionary. Which is “right”?
It’s surprising how many people will argue that “The Dictionary” is the authoritative source for word spellings — and word definitions, for that matter. A word is just a symbol, created by people for use by people, and it acquires it’s meaning based on how people use it. A Dictionary is written by people who take the pulse of current word usage (like Google does) and capture it in reference form. The mapping between symbols and meanings shifts across time and context.
This is self-evident on the face, yet people still default to trusting the authority of the constructed symbol first. In fact, this disease of blithely ceding sovereignty to our hollow creations is epidemic. Logic, reason, science, and even bayesian networks are all lifeless golems constructed purely to do our bidding. We operate within their parameters when and because it serves us, and only then. Note that I’m not saying logic is to bent to the will of the individual (though it happens every day), but that logic which doesn’t serve a more fundamental purpose or collective goal is no logic at all. And a word which isn’t rooted in collective usage is no word at all.