Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!purdue!haven!mimsy!kilroy
From: kilroy@mimsy.UUCP (Overworked & Underpaid)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.wizards
Subject: Re: How do you tell a wizard?
Summary: Pointless lunacy and a counterexample.
Keywords: wizard, unix, dependencies, appearance, `Woof!'
Message-ID: <20153@mimsy.UUCP>
Date: 13 Oct 89 15:57:18 GMT
References: <219@vsserv.scri.fsu.edu> <31@minya.UUCP>
Reply-To: kilroy@mimsy.umd.edu.UUCP (Darren F. Provine)
Distribution: usa
Organization: U of Maryland, Dept. of Computer Science,
Lines: 24


In article <31@minya.UUCP>, in response to a question about determining a
`Unix Wizard', jc@minya.UUCP (John Chambers) writes:
>
>[T]o determine whether someone was really an expert [...] ask any reasonably
>complex question, and if the answer starts with "That depends...", then you
>know you have an expert.  [...]  You see, there's a general phomenon that,
>when people are trying to pretend to expertise, they usually make the
>mistake of trying to give quick, definitive answers.

Isn't it interesting to note that John tries to give a quick, definitive
answer here?

8^)


As he pointed out, the heuristic isn't perfect:  I do not recall *ever*
hearing Chris Torek start an answer with `that depends', unless it was
a question about where to have dinner...


kilroy@cs.umd.edu          Darren F. Provine          ...uunet!mimsy!kilroy
"The best speech is what is short and reasonable."
				Ali ibn-abu-Talib, cit. from Ali the Caliph