jferguson comments on Folk grammar and morality - Less Wrong

20 Post author: Emile 17 December 2010 09:20PM

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Comment author: [deleted] 17 December 2010 11:50:08PM 1 point [-]

Would they really? I'm not a parent, but I at least like to think I'd spend extra money teaching my kids useful things that are also status signals, like economics or calculus or writing (real writing, not "don't split infinitives"). Basically anything you could easily get tutoring for is a better use of time and money than grammar education.

Comment author: Eugine_Nier 18 December 2010 12:17:14AM 3 points [-]

And are the kids going to give everyone they meat a lecture on calculus?

Also, the rules probably wouldn't include "don't split infinitives". Using that as your mental example is skewing your intuition.

Notice that on most internet forums posts with bad spelling and grammar are taken less seriously. This is because readers see that they signal low quality content.

Comment author: Kingreaper 18 December 2010 12:23:33AM 4 points [-]

And are the kids going to give everyone they meat a lecture on calculus?

I'm wondering if this was deliberate, to illustrate your point.

If so, bravo, it worked really well.

Comment author: Eugine_Nier 18 December 2010 12:26:41AM 2 points [-]

Actually, it was a typo, but now that you mentioned it, it does help, so I'll leave it up.

Comment author: NihilCredo 18 December 2010 01:09:28AM *  1 point [-]

Would you still say that if you lived in an area where the local, everyday language was of exceptionally low status - e.g. Ebonics, Brummie, or Neapolitan?