It's curious that nerds, who are generally very precise in matters of technology, are such painfully sloppy writers.
Like, say, this review.
I don't remember the username, but someone on here had an excellent signature for this: "Slashdot, where people know the difference between grep, zgrep, and ngrep, but not there, their, and they're."
I've explained how I think this works before, but got was moderated into oblivion. Hopefully this will light a spark to some of you...
When I type, I literally have an inner monologue going on of what I wish to type. A lot of people work this way. It is a means of pre-screening what you want to say so that it would actually make sense if talking directly to other people.
Also, my hands move faster than I can think sometimes. When words like "there/their/they're" come along, my brain just says "there". Espec
Also, my hands move faster than I can think sometimes. When words like "there/their/they're" come along, my brain just says "there". Especially in a hurry or under stress, my brain doesn't say "WHOA there buddy. That sound can be spelled more than one way depending on the context".
This is where the amazing skill taught in school called "proofreading" kicks in. Before you click "Submit" you pause, re-read what you've written, think about it for a moment, and correct any mistakes. Conveniently, Slashdot
I think there is a good portion of people that do not consider a post on the internet to be worthy of proof reading. Any typo's or misspellings are insignificant enough that you can still read and understand the post.
I think there is a good portion of people that do not consider a post on the internet to be worthy of proof reading.
That's sad. I would imagine there's a pretty large intersection between those people and the ones that claim "language is a living construct, so I can break the rules whenever I want."
On the Internet, we don't have things like body language, voice inflection, or eye contact to help convey extra information. The words that you use become more important in those circumstances, not less.
I think the largest reason for it is that posting on the internet is done for entertainment. Because it is done for entertainment, it does not require the same level of professionalism as something, well professional.
"A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging
their prejudices."
-- William James
Nerds. (Score:5, Interesting)
It's curious that nerds, who are generally very precise in matters of technology, are such painfully sloppy writers.
Like, say, this review.
I don't remember the username, but someone on here had an excellent signature for this: "Slashdot, where people know the difference between grep, zgrep, and ngrep, but not there, their, and they're."
--saint
Re: (Score:5, Interesting)
When I type, I literally have an inner monologue going on of what I wish to type. A lot of people work this way. It is a means of pre-screening what you want to say so that it would actually make sense if talking directly to other people.
Also, my hands move faster than I can think sometimes. When words like "there/their/they're" come along, my brain just says "there". Espec
Re: (Score:5, Insightful)
Also, my hands move faster than I can think sometimes. When words like "there/their/they're" come along, my brain just says "there". Especially in a hurry or under stress, my brain doesn't say "WHOA there buddy. That sound can be spelled more than one way depending on the context".
This is where the amazing skill taught in school called "proofreading" kicks in. Before you click "Submit" you pause, re-read what you've written, think about it for a moment, and correct any mistakes. Conveniently, Slashdot
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Nerds. (Score:3, Interesting)
I think there is a good portion of people that do not consider a post on the internet to be worthy of proof reading.
That's sad. I would imagine there's a pretty large intersection between those people and the ones that claim "language is a living construct, so I can break the rules whenever I want."
On the Internet, we don't have things like body language, voice inflection, or eye contact to help convey extra information. The words that you use become more important in those circumstances, not less.
--saint
Re: (Score:2)