Comment by the_af
3 days ago
When do you need to spellcheck or polish an HN comment?
I've never, ever, ever ever ever, seen anybody complain about spelling mistakes in a comment here. As long as you can understand the comment, people respond to it.
3 days ago
When do you need to spellcheck or polish an HN comment?
I've never, ever, ever ever ever, seen anybody complain about spelling mistakes in a comment here. As long as you can understand the comment, people respond to it.
Extend spellcheck to asking questions like "does it meet HN rules" "how can I improve my writing" etc. Though these are the kinds of questions that do at very least still meet the spirit of the rule, I suppose.
Do you really need an automated tool to tell you whether you're breaking common sense guidelines?
And why would you want to "improve your writing" for an HN comment? I think people here value raw authenticity more than polished writing.
> Do you really need an automated tool to tell you whether you're breaking common sense guidelines?
Lots of people break HN guidelines. I see it virtually every day.
> And why would you want to "improve your writing" for an HN comment?
Some people like to write well regardless of the medium. Why is that a problem for you?
> I think people here value raw authenticity more than polished writing.
Classic false dichotomy. Asking an LLM for feedback is not making your comment less authentic. As I pointed out elsewhere, it can make your comment more authentic by ensuring that what you had in your head and what you wrote match.
Go and study writing and psychology. For anything of value, it's rare that your first attempt reflects what you meant to say. It's also rare that the first attempt, even if it reflects what you meant, will not be absorbed by the recipient. Saying what you mean, and having it understood as you meant it, is a difficult skill.
7 replies →
> Do you really need an automated tool to tell you whether you're breaking common sense guidelines?
I say this on behalf of all of my neurospicy friends… sometimes, yes. Especially having taken a look at the whole list of guidelines, I definitely am friends with people who would could struggle to determine whether a given comment fits or not.
People who are particular about spelling do not want to write misspelled words! It's not about whether you/others will tolerate it. I have my standards, and I hold to them.
I personally don't use an LLM to spellcheck (browser spellcheck works fine), but I see no problem with someone using an LLM to point out spelling errors.
And while I don't complain about others' spelling errors, I sure do notice them. And if someone writes a long wall of text as one giant paragraph that has lots of spelling/grammatical issues, chances are very high I won't read it.
Some people write very poorly by almost any standard. If an LLM helps the person write better, I'm all for it. There's a world of a difference between copy/pasting from the LLM and asking it for feedback.
> I have my standards, and I hold to them.
Spellcheckers exist, you don't need an AI to change your voice.
Also, if you have standards, you can always train yourself to spell better!
> Spellcheckers exist, you don't need an AI to change your voice.
How is using an AI to spell check changing my voice?
Yes, thank you - I know spellcheckers exist, as my comment clearly states. The amusing thing is that an LLM who had access to the thread would have alerted you to a basic error you're making.
> Also, if you have standards, you can always train yourself to spell better!
"You can always ..." is not an argument against alternatives.
3 replies →
I think that people subconsciously perceive grammatically correct and stylistically appropriate writing as more authoritative. And author is perceived as smarter and/or better educated person.
At least that was the case before LLMs became a thing, now I'm not sure anymore.
Obvious spelling mistakes are usually ignored, but there are certain types of writing mistakes that really trigger the type of people that frequent HN.
For example, use "literally" for exaggeration rather than in the original meaning of the word and you'll likely trigger somebody.
I never seen this, unless "literally" really clashed with the intent of the comment (as in, it changed the meaning).
It's against the HN guidelines to focus on punctuation, spelling, etc, as long as the comment is understood.
And, in any case, it's now against the guidelines to write using an AI :)
Perhaps not for the word "literally", but you've never seen anybody make a pedantic correction about word usage?
6 replies →
I've been hit by spelling/grammar noise once or twice. Those are usually downvoted and/or flagged.
Typos like an/as, of/or, an/and waste the reader's time. That some care be taken to avoid them is no more than common courtesy.