OT: what's with the 'i'?

[Patrick O'Callaghan]

On Thu, 2013-01-31 at 13:44 -0700, Craig White wrote:
> On Thu, 2013-01-31 at 15:07 -0500, Robert Moskowitz wrote:
> > On 01/31/2013 12:52 PM, Frank Murphy wrote:
> > > On Thu, 31 Jan 2013 15:55:08 +0000
> > > Patrick O'Callaghan <pocallaghan at gmail.com> wrote:
> > >
> > >> Way way OT:
> > >>
> > >> Just out of interest, why do some people use the non-existent word
> > >> "i", not to mention other violations of capitalization rules when
> > >> 1) their Shift key is clearly not broken,
> > > Could be various reasons.
> > > It's a multi-cultural list.
> > > English as 2nd or 3rd language.
> > > users may not have a western-style keyboard.
> > > Maybe dyslexic (in rare case spell-check could complicate matters)
> > 
> > I **AM** dyslexic and live and die by my speel ckecher.
> ----
> my oldest brother is probably the smartest person I know - and he was
> dyslexic too. He is also a graduate chemical engineer, former union
> organizer, economics professor (masters degree) and it's obvious that
> while spelling and grammar checkers are a must for people with these
> problems, the truth is that it's about effective communication and I
> don't have much patience for those who want to insist on rules of
> communication rather than just appreciate the communication.

If it were either/or, I would agree with you, but that's a straw man and
a false dichotomy. With the exception of dyslexics (who AFAIK tend to be
of above-average intelligence), it's not a question of either you
communicate effectively or you follow grammar rules. Grammar rules exist
in order to make communication more effective by reducing the amount of
cognitive dissonance.  Reading is not done letter by letter or word by
word, but in larger units, and every time I see 'i' instead of 'I', it
interrupts my train of comprehension, even for a a few milliseconds.
What's good about that?

poc