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I like you. I also, by and large, avoid capitals when I feel that doing so will not distract - usually that's in chats, notes, and git commit messages - but wh

I like you. I also, by and large, avoid capitals when I feel that doing so will not distract - usually that's in chats, notes, and git commit messages - but what you're doing is much bigger than that. It's like, I don't know, vegetarianism for language. It's fascinating. I have so many questions. What is your full ruleset, if you have it handy? Is this just a HN thing? A social media thing? An online thing? An all the time thing? Do you make exceptions for whatever kind of formal writing you might need to do (research papers, grant proposals, cover letters, posters, etc.)? Are you in STEM, and if not, what is your field? When did you start writing like this? I'm already imagining some vivid clashes with teachers/professors if you started anywhere in undergrad or below.

justifier 10y ago
thanks, i'm happy to answer your questions > What is your full ruleset, if you have it handy? ha! this is a funny question.. when i first started doing this i wrote a note taking app that took in a ruleset and ensured you followed it.. i'm unable to find the code right now otherwise i could just drop in the json ;P inevitably i'll forget something, but here are some highlights: remove negatives, remove absolutes and bias identifying markers when used unnecessarily, write timelessly, lists follow ':' and end with ';', parenthetical ideas are separated by a two dot '..' ellipsis, group ideas by comma ended groups where the last line is without punctuation.. with the exception of '?|!'.. then followed by a newline; hn has its own opinions about formatting, so this last rule is one i am unable to do on here, but i try to compromise as much as i can this has often gotten me in trouble on hn, because people get offended by all of the whitespace separating my individual lines for a while i wrote exclusively in these 'code blocks', but i felt the scrolling was too annoying, and got in the way of the messaging > Is this just a HN thing? A social media thing? An online thing? An all the time thing? to the best of my abilities it is an all the time thing.. it started as a writing thing: digital communications, journals, poetry; but then i decided to do it while speaking too the extemporaneous aspect of speaking makes it more difficult but i find my ability to communicate clearly and in a way i feel i can be proud of is greatly improved sometimes i am unable to find an alternative to a negative and will ask the person i am talking to to help me construct the sentence without the negative.. it's also funny when i let one slip and someone close to me calls me out on my shit and we try to reconstruct the sentence together > Do you make exceptions for whatever kind of formal writing you might need to do (research papers, grant proposals, cover letters, posters, etc.)? yes, certainly i do what i can to always stay true, regardless of audience, to the content rules: negatives, absolutes, bias; but in regard to formatting i try to 'play to my audience' when that audience is such that hypothetically i could be the one consuming my own creations: online, poetry, etc; then i use my writing style as an outlet for expression > Are you in STEM, and if not, what is your field? i also eschew limiting oneself to a single field, but i do involve myself in many different fields and stem are definitely some such fields i do research in number theory, study physics and chemistry, program, do ee, write, produce visual media, play music, study health my diversifying principle is that if i see someone doing something i greatly respect then i want to do so myself as well.. for instance, i am a huge fan of filippo brunelleschi so i designed my own dome.. i named it the domb, for dumb dome i had to learn cad and architectural principles and also ended up developing an interesting result in euclidian geometry by working on this dome project > When did you start writing like this? I'm already imagining some vivid clashes with teachers/professors if you started anywhere in undergrad or below. it happened after an argument i had with a loved one over an instant messenger app afterward, this person printed the entire thread and mailed it to me it was a pretty intense experience, reading that argument.. especially considering when i wrote the words i was thinking they were ephemeral.. in so doing, i noticed some things about myself first off, though i assumed the conversation was ephemeral the reality was that though the bytes indeed disappeared my words lived on in the relationship i was building with this person in addition to wanting to nurture the relationships i am in now i also am a lover of literature and those that produce it, and as such have read many journals by writers and i just decided at that point that i wanted to only write things that i wanted a person like me in the future reading from me in some hypothetical collection of my writings the other thing i noticed was that my best ideas were killed by my simply negating the other person.. an overly simple example: 'do you want to spend time together tonight?' 'no'vs'tonight i'm busy but what about tomorrow' my intended message was being nullified, or mired in anger, by a lazy and impulsive reply so this is when i started removing negative constructions from my language, from there i felt a freedom to restrict my language patterns in other ways to better match my thought patterns and help nurture my intended reception
- paul 10y ago
  This is awesome. I especially like the practice of removing negative constructions -- that seems like it would be life changing over the long term.
- mos_basik 10y ago
  That's fascinating. I figured you must have had some significant reason(s) to make such a drastic step. I'm glad I poked through this subthread and I'll certainly remember you! >it's also funny when i let one slip and someone close to me calls me out on my shit and we try to reconstruct the sentence together Hahahaha, that's really cute.

justifier 10y ago

thanks, i'm happy to answer your questions > What is your full ruleset, if you have it handy? ha! this is a funny question.. when i first started doing this i wrote a note taking app that took in a ruleset and ensured you followed it.. i'm unable to find the code right now otherwise i could just drop in the json ;P inevitably i'll forget something, but here are some highlights: remove negatives, remove absolutes and bias identifying markers when used unnecessarily, write timelessly, lists follow ':' and end with ';', parenthetical ideas are separated by a two dot '..' ellipsis, group ideas by comma ended groups where the last line is without punctuation.. with the exception of '?|!'.. then followed by a newline; hn has its own opinions about formatting, so this last rule is one i am unable to do on here, but i try to compromise as much as i can this has often gotten me in trouble on hn, because people get offended by all of the whitespace separating my individual lines for a while i wrote exclusively in these 'code blocks', but i felt the scrolling was too annoying, and got in the way of the messaging > Is this just a HN thing? A social media thing? An online thing? An all the time thing? to the best of my abilities it is an all the time thing.. it started as a writing thing: digital communications, journals, poetry; but then i decided to do it while speaking too the extemporaneous aspect of speaking makes it more difficult but i find my ability to communicate clearly and in a way i feel i can be proud of is greatly improved sometimes i am unable to find an alternative to a negative and will ask the person i am talking to to help me construct the sentence without the negative.. it's also funny when i let one slip and someone close to me calls me out on my shit and we try to reconstruct the sentence together > Do you make exceptions for whatever kind of formal writing you might need to do (research papers, grant proposals, cover letters, posters, etc.)? yes, certainly i do what i can to always stay true, regardless of audience, to the content rules: negatives, absolutes, bias; but in regard to formatting i try to 'play to my audience' when that audience is such that hypothetically i could be the one consuming my own creations: online, poetry, etc; then i use my writing style as an outlet for expression > Are you in STEM, and if not, what is your field? i also eschew limiting oneself to a single field, but i do involve myself in many different fields and stem are definitely some such fields i do research in number theory, study physics and chemistry, program, do ee, write, produce visual media, play music, study health my diversifying principle is that if i see someone doing something i greatly respect then i want to do so myself as well.. for instance, i am a huge fan of filippo brunelleschi so i designed my own dome.. i named it the domb, for dumb dome i had to learn cad and architectural principles and also ended up developing an interesting result in euclidian geometry by working on this dome project > When did you start writing like this? I'm already imagining some vivid clashes with teachers/professors if you started anywhere in undergrad or below. it happened after an argument i had with a loved one over an instant messenger app afterward, this person printed the entire thread and mailed it to me it was a pretty intense experience, reading that argument.. especially considering when i wrote the words i was thinking they were ephemeral.. in so doing, i noticed some things about myself first off, though i assumed the conversation was ephemeral the reality was that though the bytes indeed disappeared my words lived on in the relationship i was building with this person in addition to wanting to nurture the relationships i am in now i also am a lover of literature and those that produce it, and as such have read many journals by writers and i just decided at that point that i wanted to only write things that i wanted a person like me in the future reading from me in some hypothetical collection of my writings the other thing i noticed was that my best ideas were killed by my simply negating the other person.. an overly simple example: 'do you want to spend time together tonight?' 'no'vs'tonight i'm busy but what about tomorrow' my intended message was being nullified, or mired in anger, by a lazy and impulsive reply so this is when i started removing negative constructions from my language, from there i felt a freedom to restrict my language patterns in other ways to better match my thought patterns and help nurture my intended reception

paul 10y ago
This is awesome. I especially like the practice of removing negative constructions -- that seems like it would be life changing over the long term.
mos_basik 10y ago
That's fascinating. I figured you must have had some significant reason(s) to make such a drastic step. I'm glad I poked through this subthread and I'll certainly remember you! >it's also funny when i let one slip and someone close to me calls me out on my shit and we try to reconstruct the sentence together Hahahaha, that's really cute.