Spell checkers are often terrible, and are just as capable of introducing errors as fixing them, and don't always catch grammar errors like lets vs let's.

Look, I care a great deal about proper spelling and grammar, and put a lot of effort into it, but errors can still happen (I've noticed I've been making more spelling errors in recent years than I used to, which worries me). Your comment just sounds needlessly dismissive of people with dyslexia. You could also put effort into proper spelling without trying to come off as a dick (which frankly is probably worse than bad spelling).

> are you sure you aren't dyslexic or lazy?

Thank you for proving my point in one sentence, comparing those with dyslexia and those who are lazy.

> By the way, spell checkers are a thing these days.

I use spell-checkers all the time. To be honest, I think spell checkers are one reason why people complain about this in the first place because offloading the cognitive load of spelling and grammar to software inevitably means that people stop thinking in those terms and eventually lose the ability to communicate perfectly without the assistance of software. And then when that software isn't available in every input on every application, mistakes get made.

I have major problems with third-party browser plugins that read all of your browser input in order to fix your grammatical errors, so I typically don't use them in the context of HN. Since I'm writing a comment into a browser text input and not a word processor, this isn't content that I'm trying to sell or polish. It's just to communicate simply and sometimes mistakes are made. Should we always send texts in complete sentences so that our recipient fully understands the depths of our command of the language? Plus, how many times have you seen a grammar checker get it wrong? I have many times. Spoiler alert: software isn't perfect.

I would understand the argument against grammatical ticks in a context where content is paid for or traded on a professional level. When I buy a book, I expect it to be tight and free of errors. But I'm not paying to be on here, I'm here to exchange ideas, and some of the most intelligent people I've come across in my career aren't necessarily the most eloquent, polished communicators.

You must have a really weird definition of “comparing”. If I ask “isn't the elephant pink or fastº, does that mean I'm comparing pink color with speed?