[G4] Off topic install of OS9

[Philip J Robar]

On Jun 1, 2006, at 8:59 PM, Larry Carr wrote:

> Phil, you said, "If they won't make the effort to communicate in
> reasonable English, why should I feel any need to answer reasonably?"
>
> Phil, I am a member of a some listserv's that includes many  
> engineers, scientists and PhD's. A few of these individuals may  
> have I.Q.'s greater than 150. Many of these same individuals, with  
> english as their first language, are ignorant of the syntax and or  
> spelling. It seems that the language that they are most comfortable  
> with may be mathematics or perhaps HTML. Just because they do not  
> show the refined proficiency with english that you have, is not in  
> any instance an indication of intelligence. A demand of a high  
> proficency of english in this listserv, which may be viewed in most  
> countries of the world, may reduce the intelligent input to this  
> listserv. Please forgive any transgressions into the intelligible  
> as I strive to support and contribute to all.

First of all let me apologize for the inappropriate terseness of my  
first response to cerebus DaPope's initial post. I was trying to make  
a point with sarcasm, but failed to include sufficient information  
(or a smilie) to make that clear. In fact I know better, but my  
smugness reflex hit the send button before the better judgement part  
of my brain could override it.

However, and correct me if I'm wrong, I don't recall ever taking  
anyone (native speaker or not) to task for their use of English when  
it was clear that they were doing the best they could or had just  
made a typo. Nor do I recall impugning anyone's intelligence based on  
their lack of command of the English language. I neither demand nor  
expect a high proficiency of English by participants of this list. I  
acknowledge that on-line postings are usually made on the fly by  
people of diverse backgrounds and that as such they will contain  
mistakes and typos that would be unacceptable in other contexts.  
(Notice that I didn't correct the extra "a" in the first sentence of  
your second paragraph, your misspelling of "proficiency", or the fact  
that you repeatedly didn't capitalize "English". :-) )

In fact my objection to cerebus DaPope's postings is quite the  
opposite. It seems clear to me that his or her knowledge of grammar  
is sufficient to indicate that he or she also knows, as I tried to  
clarify in my last post, at least the basics of proper capitalization  
and punctuation, but was either too lazy to bother or was attempting  
to use a form of communication that passes for cool or with-it in  
other on-line forums. I stand by that assessment - even if it is  
based on rather shaky evidence. I feel that posting like cerebus' are  
a sign of disrespect or inappropriate youthful rebellion, which  
admittedly cause a knee-jerk reaction on my part. Is it really asking  
too much of someone to capitalize the first word in a sentence, to  
capitalize 'I' as appropriate, and to end each sentence with proper  
punctuation? (Yes, English is unique in its capitalization of "I",  
but come on, it's not that hard of a rule to remember.)


Phil