Three reasons for grammatical errors

I have been critical of people who use arguments related to grammar and spelling to discredit individuals. I'm not going to spend too much time repeating myself, but I do feel that I can expand on one core concept. Grammatical errors occur for a number of reasons. We should never assume that an error is proof of ignorance.


Let's start with the most popular argument against grammatical errors. Some errors are legitimately due to ignorance of the rules of grammar. Some of these rules are important. Some are valued only by those who are obsessed with grammar. There are even a few that are not real rules. Of course, none of these reasons for ignorance is sufficient to disprove arguments unrelated to grammar.

Some mistakes are slip-ups. A good example of a slip-up would be a typographical error. Others could be misuse of similar terms that you know very well. Even if you have a flawless understanding of the rules, there are no guarantees that you will never make a mistake. Nobody should be expected to be perfect, and the idea that even one grammatical mistake could be used to attack your beliefs is absurd.

In addition to the above grammatical errors that I have explained, there are intentional errors. For example, there are rules relating to the capitalization of directions. Because I am sick of east-coast bias, I openly deviate from those rules. Whether or not I capitalize these words comes down primarily to the direction. The idea is to counter the media's beliefs that the east is more valuable than the West while also showing pride in the Northwest. Of course, that has more to do with such things as climate and scenery. I will not defend how our deteriorating state is run.