Instead of engaging with others, you should’ve just stayed bold (or in your own words - foolish) and started the robotics company, pouring in whatever money you could. Sometimes other people are unintentionally demoralizing. Who cares if you’re burning through your own cash? In a few years, it might just turn into something big.
Breaking things isn't ideal, but it's not the worst. What's truly problematic is when everything appears to be functioning perfectly, while underlying issues go unnoticed—exactly the situation in this story.
Does it really matter? While it may not adhere strictly to the rules of grammar, it's not so incorrect that it becomes confusing or changes the intended meaning. This is simply how language evolves over time.
Kids born in "native english" change the language too. For example, treat irregular verbs like regular ones. Languages evolve with time, regardless of non-native speakers using it.
Yes, it really does matter.
The concept that "language evolves" is absolutely valid when you're talking about the introduction of new words and phrases and adapting existing words to new purposes.
It's not the principle to invoke when you're talking about simply making logical mistakes. A question mark is used at the end of a question, not a statement. "How it works" is a statement. "How does it work?" would be the way to word the same CTA as a question.
Details matter because they add up to an overall impression of the quality of your work. Think of it as the "Brown M&Ms" principle, if you're familiar with that story. (Google it if you're not, it's a great anecdote.)
Which is grand if your audience is entirely composed of folks who speak your native language, at which point you should probably just write your native language.
Look, write however you like. Just don't be surprised when people aren't willing or able to crack your personal cipher. I'm not a perscriptivist, and I'm not calling for capital punishment. Heck, I didn't even point out the grammatical mistake in the first place, nor would I have. I'm just agreeing that it's not clear.
Maybe you are built differently from myself, but as is the case with multiple people here, it causes mental whiplash to punctuate a statement like "How it works" with a question mark. I have to go back and parse it again and wonder what the question is and what I got wrong before realizing that it's just a grammatical error. When that happens, it wears on the limited attention I have to look at the thing you want me to look at.
Fix it, don't fix it, it's no skin off my nose. Lord knows every blog post or HN comment I've ever written is bedazzled with errors and typos. I haven't taken the trouble to fix it. I don't, however, pretend that so long as it's as or more intelligible than a Russian Numbers Station that it's "understandable enough".
Also, I invite you to call me a "pedant" or even a "general dumbass" before calling me a Nazi of any sort. Nothing I've (ever) written has warranted me being labelled as such, and I deeply resent it.
