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Ask HN: How Many of You Are Like Me?

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Re: Ask HN: How Many of You Are Like Me?

#61

Post by geoffw8 »

SamReidHughes wrote: post #56
geoffw8 wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You'd have better success if you showed some respect for your readers by capitalizing and writing your posts in a normal style. Starting off with "lol" and an emoticon marks you as somebody who hasn't thought about what he is about to write, and who doesn't care to present his thoughts to the reader in an organized manner. That is the biggest pile of bs I have ever read. Just because he starts his posts with a lol,…

> Just because he starts his posts with a lol, and a smiley mean NOTHING. Actually it means a lot. When you read, your neurons get tingled. How this happens is affected by writing style. Not everybody has the time or energy to be a hyperrationalist information absorber that processes data into the same thing irrespective of the order and manner it arrives. edit: I think you've misinterpreted my post if you think I sa…

You've missed your own point. By NOTHING, I meant that it "has absolutely no connection to how much respect [he] give[s] readers, and how much [he] think[s] about [his] responses."

He just might not be so hot on English, it doesn't mean he hasn't considered what he's going to say.

Re: Ask HN: How Many of You Are Like Me?

#62

Post by YuriNiyazov »

geoffw8 wrote: post #37
SamReidHughes wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You'd have better success if you showed some respect for your readers by capitalizing and writing your posts in a normal style. Starting off with "lol" and an emoticon marks you as somebody who hasn't thought about what he is about to write, and who doesn't care to present his thoughts to the reader in an organized manner. In your comment history, other posts have it worse, and your writing style and mannerisms make…

> You'd have better success if you showed some respect for your readers by capitalizing and writing your posts in a normal style. Starting off with "lol" and an emoticon marks you as somebody who hasn't thought about what he is about to write, and who doesn't care to present his thoughts to the reader in an organized manner. That is the biggest pile of bs I have ever read. Just because he starts his posts with a lol,…

"The barrier to entry of participating on HN is not how you word, or begin your point - but the value you add."

The original impetus behind HN was that it is a place where people can have civil discourse online. Proper grammar and spelling when writing are a part of that - it is the equivalent of not drooling from your mouth when speaking.

Re: Ask HN: How Many of You Are Like Me?

#63

Post by geoffw8 »

YuriNiyazov wrote: post #62
geoffw8 wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You'd have better success if you showed some respect for your readers by capitalizing and writing your posts in a normal style. Starting off with "lol" and an emoticon marks you as somebody who hasn't thought about what he is about to write, and who doesn't care to present his thoughts to the reader in an organized manner. That is the biggest pile of bs I have ever read. Just because he starts his posts with a lol,…

"The barrier to entry of participating on HN is not how you word, or begin your point - but the value you add." The original impetus behind HN was that it is a place where people can have civil discourse online. Proper grammar and spelling when writing are a part of that - it is the equivalent of not drooling from your mouth when speaking.

> it is the equivalent of not drooling from your mouth when speaking.

No, it is not. Not everyone is hot on their written english.

I'm sure if this was a fundamental of the HN community, the HN team would have referred to it in the guidelines - http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html.

I'll repeat what I said above, its about the value in what you say, not how you word/spell it.

Re: Ask HN: How Many of You Are Like Me?

#65

Post by [deleted] »

geoffw8 wrote: post #61
SamReidHughes wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Just because he starts his posts with a lol, and a smiley mean NOTHING. Actually it means a lot. When you read, your neurons get tingled. How this happens is affected by writing style. Not everybody has the time or energy to be a hyperrationalist information absorber that processes data into the same thing irrespective of the order and manner it arrives. edit: I think you've misinterpreted my post if you think I sa…

You've missed your own point. By NOTHING, I meant that it "has absolutely no connection to how much respect [he] give[s] readers, and how much [he] think[s] about [his] responses." He just might not be so hot on English, it doesn't mean he hasn't considered what he's going to say.

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: How Many of You Are Like Me?

#66

Post by mkr-hn »

gnaritas wrote: post #45
geoffw8 wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You'd have better success if you showed some respect for your readers by capitalizing and writing your posts in a normal style. Starting off with "lol" and an emoticon marks you as somebody who hasn't thought about what he is about to write, and who doesn't care to present his thoughts to the reader in an organized manner. That is the biggest pile of bs I have ever read. Just because he starts his posts with a lol,…

> What you've done is no different to this scenario - your at school, your one of the popular guys But this is exactly the kind of thing he's referring to, sloppy writing and sloppy grammar generally mean sloppy thinking. If you're going to take the time to write something, you must want it to be read; have respect for your reader and use proper capitalization, punctuation, and correct contractions. There are a lot o…

I think words like "proper" are what throw a lot of people. It brings up images of a grumpy English teacher.

But natural language is like a programming language. If you start tossing brackets and semicolons all over the place, it won't compile, and it won't make much sense.

Things like grammar and spelling are the syntax of natural language, and failing to make sure you're close to the norm is a good way to throw an exception.

Not as concise as "proper" or "correct," but less likely to start an argument.

Re: Ask HN: How Many of You Are Like Me?

#67

Post by MrDunham »

JonnieCache wrote: post #40
EwanG wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the off chance you're serious (and I know folks sometimes have a hard time differentiating between very subtle sarcasm and true newbiehood): You are being directed to go to Google (or other search engine of choice) and enter the phrase "Cone of Learning". You should get a result similar to the following: http://www.google.com/search?q=cone+of+learning&ie=utf-8...

To be fair it is possible to parse google as a noun in that sentence. It reads a bit like an item in an RPG. Google Cone of Haste +3

Actually that's how I read it too - even though being told to "google" something is by no means new to me.

The google cone of haste, I like that.

Re: Ask HN: How Many of You Are Like Me?

#68

Post by rdouble »

gnaritas wrote: post #45
geoffw8 wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You'd have better success if you showed some respect for your readers by capitalizing and writing your posts in a normal style. Starting off with "lol" and an emoticon marks you as somebody who hasn't thought about what he is about to write, and who doesn't care to present his thoughts to the reader in an organized manner. That is the biggest pile of bs I have ever read. Just because he starts his posts with a lol,…

> What you've done is no different to this scenario - your at school, your one of the popular guys But this is exactly the kind of thing he's referring to, sloppy writing and sloppy grammar generally mean sloppy thinking. If you're going to take the time to write something, you must want it to be read; have respect for your reader and use proper capitalization, punctuation, and correct contractions. There are a lot o…

fred wilson never capitalizes or uses periods on hacker news

Re: Ask HN: How Many of You Are Like Me?

#69

Post by cmoylan »

ireadzalot wrote: post #9

Sometimes I don't comment because the other comments seems so well-thought-out and expertly laid out. Level of knowledge of some HN commenters is almost intimidating sometimes.

Same for me. I find that someone usually says exactly what I was thinking, but phrases it 10x better.

Re: Ask HN: How Many of You Are Like Me?

#70

Post by jarek »

mkr-hn wrote: post #66
gnaritas wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> What you've done is no different to this scenario - your at school, your one of the popular guys But this is exactly the kind of thing he's referring to, sloppy writing and sloppy grammar generally mean sloppy thinking. If you're going to take the time to write something, you must want it to be read; have respect for your reader and use proper capitalization, punctuation, and correct contractions. There are a lot o…

I think words like "proper" are what throw a lot of people. It brings up images of a grumpy English teacher. But natural language is like a programming language. If you start tossing brackets and semicolons all over the place, it won't compile, and it won't make much sense. Things like grammar and spelling are the syntax of natural language, and failing to make sure you're close to the norm is a good way to throw an…

The root comment compiled perfectly. The grammar was understandable and the logic reasonably sound. The only deviations from the gold standard of natural English are: 1) "lol"; 2) ";]"; 3) lack of capitalization on some words. That is much closer to whitespace conventions than tossing brackets and semicolons all over the place.
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