Serial comma or no serial comma?

[MyndFyre]

I've been a strong advocate of the serial comma.  I believe it flows well with natural speech, inserts normal separation between a list of items, and provides for a clear separation of ideas.

Discuss.

[iago]

"I like to use as many commas as possible" --my friend

[Blaze]

"I like to use as many commas as possible" --my friend

"I too, personally, try to, as the opportunity arises, use as many commas as possible.,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,"

[CrAz3D]

I tend to, but my profs keep putting an insane influence on being concise.

[Rule]

I tend to, but my profs keep putting an insane influence on being concise.

It's important to be concise.

[Sidoh]

I tend to, but my profs keep putting an insane influence on being concise.

It's important to be concise.

[while1]

I too, am for the use of the serial comma.  I prefer to use the serial comma because it better mirrors the cadence of spoken English and provides disambiguation when interpreting the meaning and flow of written English. 

I convey my thoughts, feelings, and ideas better in written communication than ad-hoc verbal communication because I'm such a scatter brained, inarticulate, and think-out-loud speaker.

[CrAz3D]

I tend to, but my profs keep putting an insane influence on being concise.

insane influence?  that doesnt make sense.

[while1]

I tend to, but my profs keep putting an insane influence on being concise.

insane influence?  that doesnt make sense.

I concur, talking to yourself does not make sense.

[Ender]

Logically, it makes more sense to have a serial comma. Let's say you have the list

Germany, Spain and France, England, and America.

The serial comma in this case indicates that America and England should be grouped in the same way as Spain and France are grouped.

For instance, let's say the aforementioned countries went to war. The italicized list could be used to show that Spain and France were allied in a four-way war. If you omit the serial comma, then England and America would all of a sudden appear to be allied. This is certainly an uncommon example, but logically it makes a lot of sense.

However, context matters. In fiction it might be more aesthetically pleasing to omit the final comma. Even in everyday writing, the writer might want to omit the last comma to make the sentence flow better. Unless the serial comma makes a logical difference in the sentence, I think it's mostly a matter of style. And since it rarely makes a difference, it's common to see both.

[Falcon]

You grammar nazis are ridiculous. Period.

[rabbit]

Nazis*.

[Newby]

Depends on what I'm saying. If I feel the sentence is better stated without a serial comma, I won't use it. If I feel it makes the sentence flow better I'll use it.

[CrAz3D]

Today in my legal writing class we received an excerpt from a contract (link below). That whole block of text contains...I think...maybe three sentences.

http://dailycrazed.net/personal/k.pdf

[CrAz3D]

sidenote: wow...that little "camscan" program on my phone is pretty badass. I shot the picture while the paper was just resting on my leg. A little blurry, but not bad for a random shot.

/reminds me that I need to figure out how to clean the lens on my phone's camera.