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Author Topic:   Smart People?
Chiroptera
Inactive Member


Message 5 of 131 (459663)
03-09-2008 11:00 AM
Reply to: Message 1 by pelican
03-08-2008 6:37 PM


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

This message is a reply to:
 Message 1 by pelican, posted 03-08-2008 6:37 PM pelican has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 12 by pelican, posted 03-09-2008 6:40 PM Chiroptera has replied
 Message 16 by pelican, posted 03-10-2008 12:22 AM Chiroptera has not replied

  
Chiroptera
Inactive Member


Message 8 of 131 (459755)
03-09-2008 6:27 PM
Reply to: Message 7 by pelican
03-09-2008 6:19 PM


Thinking has nothing to do with literacy.
This is so not true. This board itself is a very good example. Most of the poor writers on this board are very sloppy thinkers, in some cases even lunatics, while the better writers tend to write very factual and logical posts. There are exceptions, of course, but I see a strong correlation between ability to write correctly and clarity of thought.
I also see this in the math classes I teach in regards to handwriting. Students with good handwriting also tend to write the steps to their work in an organized, clear fashion and are more likely to get the answer correct. Students with sloppy handwriting also tend to be disorganized in their work and often get the wrong answer...unless they can look it up in the back of the book. There are exceptions, but this seems to be the main trend.
Good writing, both handwriting and proper spelling and punctuation, seems to be associated with clear, logical, organized thinking.

...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

This message is a reply to:
 Message 7 by pelican, posted 03-09-2008 6:19 PM pelican has not replied

  
Chiroptera
Inactive Member


Message 13 of 131 (459765)
03-09-2008 6:44 PM
Reply to: Message 12 by pelican
03-09-2008 6:40 PM


Re: Patience is a virtue
Okay. So you've asked why spelling, punctuation, and grammar matter. And we've answered you. But you've already decided that it doesn't matter, so there. That's fine as long as we're not pretending we're having an actual discussion.
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

This message is a reply to:
 Message 12 by pelican, posted 03-09-2008 6:40 PM pelican has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 21 by pelican, posted 03-10-2008 1:19 AM Chiroptera has not replied

  
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