1746. English, by the way is dated back to slightly prior to the first millennium, common era. So we enjoyed, roughly, 800 years without zealously "book-regularized" yet reckless phonetically spelling and spelling zealots, and have suffered only 250 or so years of these zealots of phonetically insane yet book-regularized spelling.
Count me with the "loosers" -- not totally, but we could use some serious realignment of many spellings.
I respectfully disagree on the basis of the lifelong benefits of regimen; for instance, my dad taught me to spell so that I could write and in the process of spelling and writing, I learned to read; from there I went on to devise a way to keep these new tools organized so that they were always at hand and, in so doing I developed the ability to place an imaginary blackboard on the inner wall of my mind upon which I could draw, write, dissect and assemble any number of images as clearly as though chalk were in hand.
I went on to place all the choice pieces of my arsenal in boxes kept alongside this board in smaller boxes inside the larger boxes until I have now filled so many corners of my mind that stray fragments have begun to spill all about the floor.
Sometimes the more elusive and light-slippery of these take flight and flit from far to for naught, but time and patience and forebearance rewards as the errant arrive all tuckered but told - at last.