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Why the global elite gave up on spelling and grammar

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Re: Why the global elite gave up on spelling and grammar

#61

Post by mrec »

mihaic wrote: post #39
RamblingCTO wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

or efficiency is more important because you have a high load of people you need to interact with. I was a grammer nazi back in the day but stopped caring because the ROI is minimal and I've got shit to do that's more important. so maybe it's the same for them

By your logic, you didn't put in much effort into your message. Besides not capitalizing the first letter of every sentence, everything else looks great though for me, and I'd imagine it was low effort for you. Those messages between billionaire read like the worst texts from low IQ teenagers.

I dunno, misspelling "grammar" as "grammer" isn't a great look in context.

Re: Why the global elite gave up on spelling and grammar

#62

Post by squigz »

lab14 wrote: post #20

to me, the goal of written text is to put an idea or a concept in the mind of another person. _capitalization_ is one of those "arbitrary rules" that add absolutely nothing to this process unless you're using an obscure acronym. in my mind, it's one of those ancient rules that are completely obsolete in the modern world. its only purpose is to allow others to say "i am better than you because i use this ancient rule…

If you care about communicating an idea or concept effectively, things like capitalization and grammar are absolutely important.

Re: Why the global elite gave up on spelling and grammar

#63

Post by normanthreep »

rickcarlino wrote: post #11

Nothing says “I’m not AI” like a complete disregard for capitalization and grammar. It’s the ultimate authenticity signal in 2026.

Yeah of all my HN and reddit bots those who are prompted to produce bad grammar are the most successful

people love talking to them

Re: Why the global elite gave up on spelling and grammar

#64

Post by bluGill »

mmooss wrote: post #17
tencentshill wrote: post #2

That's just how busy people type. You see it a lot if you communicate with upper managers/Csuite regularly. They don't have anyone to impress in private emails, as long as the message is communicated well enough. Before smartphones/autocorrect/dictation it was worse.

> That's just how busy people type. You see it a lot if you communicate with upper managers/Csuite regularly. They don't have anyone to impress in private emails, as long as the message is communicated well enough. There is a time pressure to communicate this way, but I think it's generally a management mistake: Managment includes leadership (usually). Your messages are most of what most people in the organization se…

Messages from the CEO to the whole company should be carefully checked, and in my experience they seem to be. Spelling/grammar is just a tiny part of check, there is also the whole inclusive language/not offensive to anyone set of checks, and the is this even legal check (perhaps more, that is what I can think of offhand).

Messages to a single vice president get much less care.

Re: Why the global elite gave up on spelling and grammar

#65

Post by ryandrake »

RamblingCTO wrote: post #31
ryandrake wrote: post #15

I think a more likely reason, that for some reason, a lot of people don't want to talk about, is that these "Global Elite" aren't really that smart, creative, or articulate. That they've gotten to where they are despite, not because of their communication skills. They're not being "typical unconventional / quirky entrepreneurs." They're simply C students who knew the right people.

or efficiency is more important because you have a high load of people you need to interact with. I was a grammer nazi back in the day but stopped caring because the ROI is minimal and I've got shit to do that's more important. so maybe it's the same for them

I've never understood the "efficiency / ROI" argument. What is the "Investment"? What's the time delta between using the shift key and not using the shift key? Does it even add up to one second per year? What's the accumulated time loss from spelling "grammar" properly?

If the delta is simply "cognitive load" then we're back to the theory I already posted.

Re: Why the global elite gave up on spelling and grammar

#68

Post by ryandrake »

stackghost wrote: post #46
jordanb wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah and it's really interesting watching people try to come up with alternate explanations. The people who rule us can't be this mid, otherwise the very concept of meritocracy is bunk. Or at the very least, the things we tell ourselves are meritorious are not what actually what causes people to rise to the top of our society. By the way I'm also astonished by their lack of taste. The Epstein properties give off a si…

>The people who rule us can't be this mid, otherwise the very concept of meritocracy is bunk. It is bunk. Nobody who has even a modicum of critical thinking ability thinks that Donald Trump or Elon Musk are geniuses. Luck and circumstance are an immense part of success.

I truly believe this is it. People don't want to openly admit how dumb these Global Elite actually are, because it totally shatters the illusion that there's even a tiny shred of meritocracy in the world.

Re: Why the global elite gave up on spelling and grammar

#69

Post by bluGill »

mrob wrote: post #58
mmooss wrote: post #12

This could be read as a condemnation of the text input interfaces we've designed; the users are busy and have little choice. Typing on a phone still is awful: * Very time-consuming, especially for edits/corrections * Lacks functionality (where is undo? the right/left arrow keys?) and other functionality is very poor (mouse/pointer control) * Frustrating! * Consumes attention: I can type on a full keyboard while looki…

Doing anything on a phone is a miserable experience, even compared to using a laptop, which is already a lot worse than a desktop with good input devices. IMO it's shocking how many professionals are willing to tolerate such bad interfaces. Compare how picky professional musicians are about the exact components and setups of their instruments. No amount of convenience should lure you into accepting touch screens.

touch screen phones are a useful compromise. If I'm going to write a lot I want a real keyboard and large monitor with all the features thereof. However often I just need a quick note and I'm not in the office. I would not carry a desktop computer to the airport (I'm old enough to remember the IBM XT luggable computer - built in CRT monitor, not battery: it was portable, but it was a real workout). A laptop is sometimes useful, and it isn't too bad to have one in a backpack, but it is still big and so won't be with you. A phone is the correct size of have in your pocket so you can "do something" while "the refs try to figure out which rule applies to this play".

Phones will always be miserable - but they are the least miserable option in a lot of situations and so I expect people to use them a lot just because the other tools are even worse.

Re: Why the global elite gave up on spelling and grammar

#70

Post by bluGill »

everdrive wrote: post #14
mmooss wrote: post #12

This could be read as a condemnation of the text input interfaces we've designed; the users are busy and have little choice. Typing on a phone still is awful: * Very time-consuming, especially for edits/corrections * Lacks functionality (where is undo? the right/left arrow keys?) and other functionality is very poor (mouse/pointer control) * Frustrating! * Consumes attention: I can type on a full keyboard while looki…

>Typing on a phone still is awful I use a bluetooth keyboard for typing on my phone unless I'm out in the world. The number of people who want to have long-form conversations through a phone interface is shocking to me since it's such an awful experience and there are so, so many available alternatives.

I do that a lot. My phone doesn't have spellcheck though - it assumes I'm using a keyboard with autocorrect.
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