Sunday 2 February 2020

Experts.


                                 

I know very little of the interior working of my body. I know that it requires food and liquid, but how it all works; I'd rather not know.

I feel much the same about car engines, plumbing, and electricity. I rely on others to know how such things operate, just as I know about certain things of which they would know nothing.

I know nothing of the stars and planets, nothing about most Chinese cities, and nothing about the manufacture of aeroplanes.

At school I learned all about Ox bow lakes, Pythagoras, and the Wars of the Roses, but I didn't learn the ingredients of a basic Pizza dough.

I can still hardly speak a word of Italian, Spanish, or German. I continue to make silly spelling mistakes, open packets at the wrong end, and burn toast. I am an ignoramus when it comes to so many subjects, but somehow the world expects us all to know everything, and makes me feel stupid if I admit to being uneducated.

We all need experts; as long as that's what they really are. However, I suspect that many 'experts' simply bluff their way around their so-called expertise. Just because someone has a professorship at Dim-Wit University doesn't mean that he/she knows more about the cultivation of Potatoes than I do.

When my children were young I advised them to learn absolutely EVERYTHING they possibly could about one particular subject, whether it be water pumps, FX trading, or the manufacture of gloves. None of them followed my advice (probably wisely), but all have done well.

p.s. What the 'BS' stands for in my illustration, I have no idea!


22 comments:

  1. Politicians that are experts are the ones who trouble me. Very few would be expert in the area of their portfolios, yet they speak as if they know better than the real experts.

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    1. It's how they get moved around from Ministry to Ministry that I find baffling. If they have expertise in one particular area, then they should restrict themselves to just that.

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    2. I absolutely agree Cro, I can never understand why they get shuffled around to different areas, seems totally bonkers to me!

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    3. One minute 'Health', the next 'Ireland'.

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  2. Bluffing around is a hobby here. I want to laugh out loud sometimes, but wouldn't dare. My traditional person is one of the worst. He gives advice to olive growers (he who hasnt tended his olives in years) on olive growing, building dog houses (that was yesterday) to a builder of houses. He spends a lot of time on youtube these days and has become an expert in just about everything under the sun. And woe betide if you disagree with him. But I suppose, here, that is part of the fun. Arguments can go on for hours.
    It took me a long time to realise just how much BS people spout whilst looking so earnest and knowledgable. Now I move on as fast as possible. They annoy the hell out of me.

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    Replies
    1. I know plenty of experts who are anything but! Not a month's study between them.

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  3. Learning about Ox bow lakes takes me back .... I got geography O - level ! I’m not an expert in anything much but I’ve got by ! XXXX

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  4. That's nice.Are you organizing exhibitions?

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  5. So true. There is a huge gulf between strong knowledge and strong opinions.

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    Replies
    1. Well put! I'm always suspicious of experts; especially so-called 'consultants'.

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  6. I'd love to be a world authority on something - anything - woodlice even, whatever. Unfortunately I'm only a world authority on scrimping and saving and 'overthinking' things!

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    1. 'Scrimping and Saving' is very important to many of us.... in fact to most people in the world! Thrift Consultant maybe? I'm sure there's a need.

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  7. I once met a man, university professor, who claimed to be the leading authority on Stanley Spencer. (I looked him up and he was). He showed little or no enthusiasm for Spencer. It was just a job to him and nothing more. Put me off experts for life.

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    Replies
    1. I wonder why he chose Spencer, to be an expert of? You'd have thought he'd choose someone he really liked!

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  8. Once had a guitar teacher who had a saying that applies to any area of expertise anyone at all might claim to have: "it takes you 10 years to realise how crap you are".

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    Replies
    1. I certainly know that the older you get, the more you realise how little you know!

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  9. I remember the schoolboy definition that I'm surprised no on e has mentioned: An "ex" is a has-been. A "spurt" is a drip under pressure. So an "expert" is a has-been drip under pressure.

    However I prefer either:

    Gummidge's Law of Expert Communications:

    The amount of expertise varies inversely with the understandability of the statements made by the expert.

    Or Peter Ustinov's statement that if the world should blow itself up, the last audible voice would be that of an expert saying it can't be done.

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    Replies
    1. To change another well known saying 'If you can; do. If you can't; become an expert'.

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