Saturday, February 26, 2011

Throwing random stuff in the free ice cream machine:

From around the intertubes:
  • On Twitter: "Well, Mr. Christian, we're all out of rum and the lash is broken; you know what that leaves..."
  • On Facebook: People will continue using "anarchy" when they mean "chaos" and "enormity" when they mean "enormousness", and I will continue being annoyed by it. ;)
  • Dodging Dunning-Kruger: When I go to gun school or shoot in a match, my goal is to not set myself on fire and to not come in dead last in the match or be the remedial student in the class. That way, any result better than that and I'm tickled pink.

16 comments:

  1. I LOL'd for real at the Twitter crack.

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  2. I worry about fulfilling Dunning-Kruger whenever I make a blog post or comment.

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  3. Maybe I'm dense, but would someone please explain: what does it leave when we're all out of rum and the lash is broken?

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  4. Anonymous it refers to a quote,

    "The only traditions of the Royal Navy are rum, sodomy and the lash." ~Winston Churchill

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  5. Not coming in dead last is good.

    I went on a 10 K "mud run" with a coworker who was a naval reserve officer and a few of his friends. I promised him I would not be dead last on our team. He brought across a wee slip of a girl who was secretary for his SEAL Team...

    I had to sprint like mad to beat her across the line...

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  6. Tam,
    Be glad that Pat Rogers doesn't have a "That Gal" patch.

    "Dear Father in Heaven, please don't let me be That Guy or earn the "Moose & Rooster"[1] patch."

    [1] Gotta keep it rated G, folks.

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  7. And I believe Mr. Christian's reply would be "Oh, bugger!"

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  8. I seem to always be at the pinnacle of the Bell curve in a class or event.

    I wish I was better, I'm thankful I not worse.

    Gerry

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  9. When I bought my house, I quickly discovered the wisdom of these two rules:

    (1) Do not have the best yard on the block.

    (2) Do not have the worst yard on the block.

    Universal applicability, here we come.

    wv: "nooloins." Undoubtedly a trademark for some soy-based steak substitute.

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  10. Didn't know it had an actual name, but I noticed it when I first went off to college. It was a school filled with people who'd been The Smartest Person At High School, which put them pretty much right in the middle of the local bell curve.

    How's that for getting smacked in the face with a fresh halibut?

    Me, I was immune because I was not the smartest guy in high school. I was good at taking tests, though, so I got really high SAT scores. But lacking the grades that generally accompanied them, I had no illusions about my relative smartitude. It did put me in a great place to observe Dunning-Kruger at works, though.

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  11. CG, I'm barely above worst yard. Need to work on that.

    Two of the last four pistol matches that I shot, I used a 5 shot airweight revolver, against full-sized autos. I may have been last, but I was also first, among guys shooting those combat matches with 14 ounce revolvers and reloading with speed strips.

    I got a few handshakes at one of them. I'll take that.

    Shooting with equal gear, my goal is to break the 50% of the field mark. It's generally the hotshots that make these matches anyway. Midfield is no shame.

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  12. I'm happy with the 50th percentile in a match, or training class. I KNOW I can always learn, and I also know I will never be the top dog, because I have a life and don't spend all my time at the range.

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  13. Thats where I am at trap shooting.
    Bustin' 75-80 in 100 bird shoot, right in the middle.
    The guys/girls at the top, never miss but they shoot every day.

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  14. My basic goals in a match/class are:

    1. Don't be stupid

    2. Don't get anyone hurt/killed

    3. Do better than I did in the last match/class, even it that's dead last compared to who I'm shooting with today.

    The only person I'm interested in competing against is myself. Probably why I don't fit in well with team sports.

    I ran one 10K in the AF, and all I promised was that I would finish. (I despise running, would rather carry a 50lb ruck sack 20 miles cross country than run 1 mile on a track.)

    I was dead last, but I kept my word and finished. I did something that I had never done before, and did something my classmates who chose to run the 5k route instead did not.

    Good enough for me. YMMV

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  15. Since the shooting skills of the participants in any given match are
    not static, I benchmark with myself off my best shoot to date. I also set specific goals for improvements before I chose and register to attend a shoot class or a match.

    Mentality like that of "Dodging Dunning-Kruger" is exactly what causes the sheeple mentality of our mass populace. What has happened to the aspiring motto of: "BE The BEST You CAN BE"?!

    BTW, You have been chosen by JW,Rawles of SurvivalBlog.com as a Honoree of the

    STYLISH BLOG AWARD!!!

    Congratulations!!!

    http://www.survivalblog.com/2011/02/survivalblog_receives_the_styl.html



    notutopia

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