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Captchas To Keep Idiots Out Of Comment Threads

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Re: Captchas To Keep Idiots Out Of Comment Threads

#31

Post by ianterrell »

raganwald wrote: post #9

Am I to understand from the title that we are equating “poor spelling/grammar in English” with “idiot”? Or is there some more subtle mechanism at work, such as equating “can’t be bothered to stare at hard-to-read-text just to post lulz, wat?” with “idiot”?

There's no excuse not to know common homonyms and misspellings. A smart person who has trouble with them knows they have trouble with them, knows what they are, and knows to double check himself. If you don't do at least that, you probably aren't that bright.

We'll forgive the less common words like your "grammer".

Re: Captchas To Keep Idiots Out Of Comment Threads

#32

Post by silverbax88 »

raganwald wrote: post #9

Am I to understand from the title that we are equating “poor spelling/grammar in English” with “idiot”? Or is there some more subtle mechanism at work, such as equating “can’t be bothered to stare at hard-to-read-text just to post lulz, wat?” with “idiot”?

We are equating that after years of education, with the subject of English (albeit American English) being a core class for EVERY YEAR of attendance, and with spell checkers on most forum communities, that if someone still goes out of their way to transpose "lose" with "loose", then, yes, they are probably an idiot.

Re: Captchas To Keep Idiots Out Of Comment Threads

#33

Post by clstrfckr »

silverbax88 wrote: post #32
raganwald wrote: post #9

Am I to understand from the title that we are equating “poor spelling/grammar in English” with “idiot”? Or is there some more subtle mechanism at work, such as equating “can’t be bothered to stare at hard-to-read-text just to post lulz, wat?” with “idiot”?

We are equating that after years of education, with the subject of English (albeit American English) being a core class for EVERY YEAR of attendance, and with spell checkers on most forum communities, that if someone still goes out of their way to transpose "lose" with "loose", then, yes, they are probably an idiot.

*then

Re: Captchas To Keep Idiots Out Of Comment Threads

#34

Post by xd »

raganwald wrote: post #25
xd wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think it's really about being smart. Having a basic grasp of language so you can adequately articulate yourself in a conversation is critical to discussion. If you can't, then you probably shouldn't be taking part in the discussion anyway. Too many people will spill there emotions into a discussion with sub standard spelling and grammar which makes it very difficult for others to understand them, which leads…

The grammar issues presented on this page are picayune distinctions with very little potential for major misunderstandings. Getting them correct is more of a social signal than anything else, like eating salad with the correct fork in some places and not eating food with your left hand in others. I have real trouble imagining that a good point made with substitution erros is somehow less critical to the discussion th…

In simple social situations that may be true. But not being able to grasp the basics of language will have an effect on how someone communicates complicated thoughts and ideas.

How would you expect someone taking on a programming challenge of say, an operating system, without the basic understanding of boolean logic to fair?

Re: Captchas To Keep Idiots Out Of Comment Threads

#36

Post by xd »

dhimes wrote: post #27
xd wrote: post #5

Love the idea, but wouldn't it be simpler and more effective to just have them fill in the missing word without the images.

It would take much more proofreading to make sure the questions aren't ambiguous. Look over ______. What am I thinking? U = {these, there, this,....}

I thought that as well. Each question would need a good degree of context.

Re: Captchas To Keep Idiots Out Of Comment Threads

#38

Post by silverbax88 »

clstrfckr wrote: post #33
silverbax88 wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We are equating that after years of education, with the subject of English (albeit American English) being a core class for EVERY YEAR of attendance, and with spell checkers on most forum communities, that if someone still goes out of their way to transpose "lose" with "loose", then, yes, they are probably an idiot.

*then

upvoted for calling me on my BS

Re: Captchas To Keep Idiots Out Of Comment Threads

#39

Post by Iv »

ianterrell wrote: post #31
raganwald wrote: post #9

Am I to understand from the title that we are equating “poor spelling/grammar in English” with “idiot”? Or is there some more subtle mechanism at work, such as equating “can’t be bothered to stare at hard-to-read-text just to post lulz, wat?” with “idiot”?

There's no excuse not to know common homonyms and misspellings. A smart person who has trouble with them knows they have trouble with them, knows what they are, and knows to double check himself. If you don't do at least that, you probably aren't that bright. We'll forgive the less common words like your "grammer".

I'm not an English native speaker. Their/they're/their also stings my eyes when incorrectly used, but I must admit that I often do the lose/loose mistake. But that's fair, whoever uses a grammar that is loose, lose.
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