For one thing, it takes considerable more time and thought to read that passage. Maybe someone who is functionally illiterate, so even correctly spelled passages take time and effort to read, won't notice, but those of us who are literate do notice a big, big difference in how easy it is to read a passage like that.
Also, if you were going to give a public talk, would you dress in a torn t-shirt and cut-off blue jeans? Or would would try to dress appropriately out of respect for your audience? It's the same principle here. I remember a former poster who never capitalized, but assured us he did when he wrote his technical papers. In other words, we weren't worth the same amount of effort as his academic peers. Personally, I felt insulted by that.
In fact, I feel insulted when anyone realizes that their spelling and punctuation are bad but they don't see the point of trying to improve. What these people are telling us is that we just aren't worth the effort to communicate with effectively.
Added by edit:
By the way, since both former members who made a conscious decision to not capitalize are now gone, I hope that any new members thinking that they can get away with it will be suspended until they at least try to shape up. I can understand being bad at grammar, spelling, and punctuation, but, as I said, to be purposely bad at it and/or to not even try to improve is disrespectful to those with whom you are trying to communicate.
Edited by Chiroptera, : No reason given.
Edited by Chiroptera, : typo
...Onward to Victory is the last great illusion the Republican Party has left to sell in this country, even to its own followers. They can't sell fiscal responsibility, they can't sell "values," they can't sell competence, they can't sell small government, they can't even sell the economy. --
Matt Taibbi