THE BURDEN OF COMMUNICATION

If you post or respond to posts here, you are obliged to write in a manner that can be understood and responded to.

This involves form and content.

Form is spelling, grammar, and punctuation. There is no excuse for lacking these basic skills. If you have a hard time with this, try writing your post in Word or whatever word-processing program that came loaded in your computer. Most of these programs are designed to correct basic errors of spelling, grammar, and punctuation.

Content is the substance of your post. Just about any comment you can make is either a judgment or a call to action.

In the case of judgment, you are stating that you agree or disagree with a statement and your reasons for agreement or disagreement.

If you disagree with someone, it is because they are uninformed (lacking information), misinformed (based on wrong information), or their reasoning is flawed (they draw wrong or erroneous conclusions from the basic information), or they are incomplete in their analysis. If you disagree with someone the burden is on you to clearly state why. There is no point in just stating “I disagree” – that is just being mindlessly contentious. If you agree with someone and find it worth saying so, it also does not hurt to state why.

In the case of a call to action, you are stating what should be done or not be done and your reasons why.

If you can’t make the effort to be understood in the first place, Don’t be surprised when you get banned.

If you just “don’t care” if your post is understood, or if you are legible or coherent to anyone reading it, then why post here in the first place? Go do something more productive with yourself, like stick a butter knife into an electric socket.

The same goes to all the lot lice that immediately jump on every lame newcomer with petty nit-picking criticism. From what I’ve observed here, 99 times out of 100 you have nothing better to offer yourself.

Kindergarten dismissed!

It's a good try, Reverend Svengali, but I am afraid that for a lot of people this is just a bridge too far. I commend your efforts though.

Now they cannot say that they were not warned.

Reverend, it crossed my mind that quite a few might be using their second language...

If I cannot read something because it it bulky and requires extensive attention, I just skip it...

Superb post as usual. You expressed my idea.

Svengali for President!

Xerx

Thank you.
This was obvious, but necessary.

A toast to the Reverend!

Might I also add that people should cite things when they borrow from them too closely, instead of acting like the ideas were their own? Perhaps I've been writing too many research papers...damn plagiarism clauses...but people on this board should have enough respect for the folks that inspire them to give credit where it's due. Most follow through with this or indicate that they simply can't recall the source of their quotes, but still....some of the newer ones don't catch on so quickly (not a good sign).

I agree with Svengali completely, finding it difficult to understand why people would find "talking" to other intelligent individuals in a coherent manner unimportant. Personally, I'm usually quite stringent with my use of the English language (rare for a Scot!) for I have too much respect for other posters to go on shamelessly abusing the language I enjoy speaking. In saying that, I think the odd typo or spelling/grammatical error here and there is forgiveable - constant continuance of same however, is not.

I often muse at those who say;

"I know lots of people who are very intelligent, but who are not great writers"

Oddly, I don't know any. I write down what goes through my head, thus it's a primary source of my intellect. I am not hampered by an inability to write, because I am not hampered by an inability to think. I think Dr LaVey himself said it best;

"Many people who fall back on phrases like "more than words can say", "when words are not enough", or "beyond description", simply have limited vocabularies."

Plus, if someone knew their spelling and grammar is bad yet were intelligent, surely they would have sense enough to use a spellchecker.

Just my two pence.

More often than not, an audience faced with linguistic slop is enabled a more important part of practical understanding:

"The man talking to me is a careless fool."

Those failing to recognize the trumping importance of grammar and precision deserve nothing short of their unwelcoming reception.

In otherwords, don't greet a king with a high five. Your "meaning" may be lost in the process.

From a website covering the topic of logical argumentative essays.

"Example One":

Even though there may be a deceiver of some sort, very powerful and very tricky, who bends all his efforts to keep me perpetually deceived, there can be no slightest doubt that I exist, since he deceives me; and let him deceive me as much as he will, he can never make me be nothing as long as I think I am something. Thus, after having thought well on this matter, and after examining all things with care, I must finally conclude and maintain that this proposition: I am, I exist, is necessarily true every time that I pronounce it or conceive it in my mind. - Rene Descartes

Translation:

"I am a blithering idiot".

Happy Halloween.