5 ms·

The terrible grammar, spelling, and proofreading do not give me all that much confidence in the writer.

• thomasahle 8y ago
  Everyone likes to say things like this, but is there actually data to back out up? Also, do you really need to have confidence in a writer? Shouldn't the arguments be able to stand for themselves?
  • hprotagonist 8y ago
    An effective argument involves not only logos but ethos and pathos as well.
  • latexr 8y ago
    The logic behind it is that if you’ve done a sloppy job with the presentation of your arguments, it becomes likelier that you’ve also cut corners during the research phase. It’s not about the quality of the prose, but about the lack of effort for something so easily fixable (a software spellchecker will catch the most egregious mistakes). I’m not aware of any hard data on the matter, but as you say, it seems like most people are concerned by this and yet the author did nothing about it, further cementing the careless attitude. To be perfectly clear, my comment is a generalisation to answer your point, not a critique of this particular author or their work (I haven’t read it).