Submitted via IRC for Bytram
In what may be one of the most controversial studies of the year, researchers at Skidmore College—clearly triggered by a change in the American Psychological Association (APA) style book—sought to quantify the benefits of two spaces after a period at the end of a sentence. After conducting an eye-tracking experiment with 60 Skidmore students, Rebecca L. Johnson, Becky Bui, and Lindsay L. Schmitt found that two spaces at the end of a period slightly improved the processing of text during reading. The research was trumpeted by some press outlets as a vindication of two-spacers' superiority.
(Score: 2) by requerdanos on Friday May 11 2018, @03:00PM (3 children)
In a very, very few contexts, hand-waving is a perfectly valid generalization technique. I think this is one of them.
Frankly, there is something like 90% of the population with no opinion or preference, and the other 10% is defined by one-spacers and two-spacers. You seem to be a one-spacer. I am a two-spacer*. I think there's room in the world for both of us. If either of us is uncomfortable with the spaceyness of a body of text, there is sed or search-and-replace. Many of the one-spacers and two-spacers get very emotional about their choices. I am happy to see some science, some facts, however meager, come into the discussion.
Many of the one-spacers and two-spacers get very emotional about their choices. I am happy to see some science, some facts, however meager, come into the discussion.
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* And I strongly prefer oxford commas because for me, they help resolve potential ambiguity, have the favor of a more lengthy tradition, and just plain look better.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 11 2018, @03:52PM
10% seems like a huge overstatement. It's probably more of a 1%, 0.1%, or even 0.01% range. Don't confuse "people on tech forums" with "general populace" :)
Anyway, I'm a non-religious one-spacer, but I completely agree with you on the Oxford comma.
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Friday May 11 2018, @04:20PM
No, I'm not a one-spacer or a two-spacer. I made my position clear, but apparently most people are just too fucking stupid to understand anything besides being on Team A or Team B.
(Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Saturday May 12 2018, @12:03PM
They can as well introduce ambiguity.
Example: My brother, a farmer, and I were walking along the street.
How many people are walking? Is it two people (the first one being my brother, a farmer, and the second one being me)? Or is it three people (The first one being my brother, the second one being a farmer, and the third one being me)?
Now without Oxford comma: My brother, a farmer and I were walking along the street.
Here it's clear that it is three people walking, since if I wanted to say that my brother is a farmer, then another comma after "farmer" would have been mandatory.
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.