XPost: sci.physics, sci.space.tech   
   From: gdpusch@NO.xnet.SPAM.com   
   Copy: bruce@cpu0.cs.usyd.edu.au   
      
   bruce@cpu0.cs.usyd.edu.au (Bruce Janson) writes:   
      
   > In article ,   
   > John Schoenfeld  wrote:   
   > ..   
   > >... ellastic. ...   
   > ..   
   > >... ellastic ...   
   > ..   
   >   
   > I have often wondered why idiosyncratic misspelling   
   > so often coincides with crackpotism.  Anyone know?   
   > (It is certainly a helpful shibboleth.)   
      
   For one thing, crackpots typically are ill-educated to un-educated ---   
   which they often view as giving them an "advantage," since to their minds   
   it means they are not "hidebound" or "constrained" by "conventional thinking."   
      
   Regardless of their level of formal education, crackpots generally grossly   
   over-estimate their own mental competence, typically considering themselves   
   to be "brilliant" or even "geniuses," when in reality they are of sub-normal   
   intelligence, and are often incapable of forming even a coherent sentence,   
   let alone a coherent thought.   
      
   It is an interesting phenomenon that the incompetent generally   
   over-estimate their own abilities, while the highly skilled generally   
   under-estimate them. See "Unskilled and Unaware of It: How Difficulties   
   in Recognizing One's Own Incompetence Lead to Inflated Self-Assessments,"   
   .   
      
      
   -- Gordon D. Pusch   
      
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