[Tfug] cell phones and bluetooth audio

[Claude Rubinson]

On Mon, Aug 14, 2006 at 07:26:03PM -0700, Robert Hunter wrote:
> 
> >> restating the question to be sure you got it right, as you just did,
> >> would be a good way to do things on tfug and other foss fora going
> >> forward.  a study of confidence versus competence has demonstrated
> >> that people who are not the most competent are the most likely to
> >> think that they are.
> >>
> >
> > This is in no way a knock on your English skills or anyone else's but I
> > think he wanted to make sure he understood it only because the post looked
> > like it was run through Alta Vista's babble fish 3 times. I had to read it
> > a couple of times before I inevitably deciphered what you were asking.
> > Took a bit but I got it :)
> 
> On the other hand, you have to admire the use of obscure inflections
> ( i.e., "fora" ), also the fascinating reference to the "study" of
> confidence versus competence.  I think we should all try harder "to
> get the question". ;)

The confidence/competence study came out a few years ago.  It's one of
my favorites.  Basically, it shows that the dumber you are, the more
likely you are to overestimate your ability.  Presumably, this is
because the skills you need to perform well are the same as the skills
you use to evaluate performance.  Conversely, the smarter you are, the
more likely you are to underestimate your ability.  This latter
situation may either be a case of knowing how much you don't know,
assuming that others are closer to your ability than is the case, or
some combination therein.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=9E03EFD61E3AF93BA25752C0A9669C8B63

C.

p.s. dict does, in fact, give "fora" as a plural for forum ("forums"
appears to acceptable as well)