BG> Take RTL for example (please!), he professes to be a programmer,
BG> yet his spelling is so atrocious, that I can't imagine any of his
BG> programs ever compiling or running correctly.

RS> Very simple really, what affects good spelling has
RS> SFA to do with what affects being a good programmer,
RS> or getting programs to compile or run.

BG> We have discussed this previously in Avtech (I think), and I disagree
BG> no less now than before.  Complex code is completely unforgiving when
BG> it finds a spelling error, you know that as well as I do.

Yes, but you have missed the point completely. Stuff like variable
names arent learnt like spelling of english words are. They are
much more ephemeral things than that and may well only be used in
a particular program. Particularly the more complex names which are
harder to get right. And they dont have the bizarre variation you get
with english, since you invent the stuff like variable names yourself.
And part of the reason that modern languages are much more productive
is that you use declarations etc which catch misspelt variable and
function names, even if thats only with a warning message.

Its nothing like spelling, so being bad at spelling
proves SFA about whether you can program effectively.

BG> As an aside, Brisbane City Council held their annual school
BG> spelling bee last week, and it did not surprise me in the least
BG> that it was won by a 12 year old Vietnamese boy.  Why do Asians do
BG> so well in our educational institutions?  The only explanation I can
BG> offer is that their attitudes towards learning are far more intense
BG> than ours, which is very much in keeping with my own observation
BG> that the majority of local school kids are simply lazy little shits.

RS> Or they have enough sense to realise that there are
RS> more important things in life than perfect spelling.

BG> Missing the point utterly.

Bullshit, you are faking away like mad Bill |-)

BG> The spelling was merely an example of what appears to be the Asians'
BG> totally different mindset and attitude towards learning in general.

It proves SFA about anything much. Doing well at spelling is primarily
a result of a particular type of memory. Sure, if you dont have a very
good memory for it, you can help with dedication, but thats not what
those winners of competitions like that are usually, its normally just
that they have the sort of memory that favours that task.

BG> Maybe possible loss of face comes into it, I don't know.

Nope, its got SFA to do with it. The success of asians in school
stuff in general is just a combination of two things, they tend to
have a higher IQ than the dregs of our society, and they have the
usual immigrant approach of trying harder and have a lot more emphasis
in their sub society on that sort of achievement. The same thing
happened with the jews in previous generations, particularly just
after the war. The expectation that you will try hard to get decent
results to get somewhere in a academic sense is a large part of it.
It makes a HELL of a difference to how kids perform in highschool say.

--- PQWK202