Transcript and Dot Notation

[Dave Cragg]

On 26 Feb 2006, at 09:04, Richard Gaskin wrote:

> The Secret Cause of Flame Wars
> By Stephen Leahy
>
>     "Don't work too hard," wrote a colleague in an e-mail
>     today. Was she sincere or sarcastic? I think I know
>     (sarcastic), but I'm probably wrong.
>
>      According to recent research published in the Journal
>      of Personality and Social Psychology, I've only a
>      50-50 chance of ascertaining the tone of any e-mail
>      message. The study also shows that people think they've
>      correctly interpreted the tone of e-mails they receive
>      90 percent of the time.
>
>      "That's how flame wars get started," says psychologist
>      Nicholas Epley of the University of Chicago, who
>      conducted the research with Justin Kruger of New York
>      University. "People in our study were convinced they've
>      accurately understood the tone of an e-mail message when
>      in fact their odds are no better than chance," says Epley.
>      ....

What do you mean by that? :-)

Cheers
Dave