this post was submitted on 09 Nov 2023
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Anyone who starts to think that they are an expert on something really needs to have the top end literature on the thing nearby. Even if you're reasonably competent, you won't be making it through the titles of most of these papers without googling several of the words.
The thing is.
I know and I also expect from others that NO ONE is an expert anywhere.
However most of people do think there expertise is sufficient to be called like that.
While I am struggling through multiple dilemmas because the uknowns and complexity of everything is unbearable versus the self proclaimed experts are joyfully neglecting details....
The self-proclaimed experts really muddy the waters. As do those seen to be experts by virtue of their charm, charisma, fame, or actual expertise in bullshitting. Another issue is those who claim to be or are judged to be experts in one field by virtue of their legitimate expertise in another.
I think there are actual experts as long as we're willing to define the term in a way that doesn't confer wisdom or in relation to what remains unknowable. For me, a true expert is someone who knows more about something than the vast majority of people, is continually striving towards expertise and mastery, and can explain things to those with little or no expertise.
Also, I think expertise is a range, not an absolute. It's completely reasonable to accept the expertise of your local accountant without also thinking that they could be the CFO of a Fortune 500 company.
For myself, I try to embrace the unknowns as new adventures or ignore them as irrelevant to the task at hand. I don't know why there are so many joinery techniques in woodworking or how to choose the most appropriate for a particular situation, but I'm having fun learning. At the same time, joinery is irrelevant to many of my projects, where doing everything by eye with scraps on hand using nails and screws gets the job done quickly and effectively.