The population of experts is increasing in all areas/topics of ASR.

[fpitas]

That said, we have a lot of actual experts here, many of whom are willing to go to great lengths to teach.

 

[fpitas]

now -- if you'd like to see the musings of some of the other kind of "experts" (you know, the ones for whom the double quote marks represent facetiousness ), here's a fun read.

Hey Chris

You have NO idea of what you're talking about, especially since you've never done any mods yourself.

forum.polkaudio.com

(the topic is improvements to legacy Polk loudspeakers, in full disclosure)

That thread made my head ache.

 

[delta76]

The most dangerous 'expert' is one that in reality isn't a real expert but believes/claims he is one.

the expert beginner

 

[JayGilb]

The key at ASR is that bullshit gets called out. While my career is in digital electronic design, I am novice level when it comes to audio.
But I know enough to realize when someone is talking out of their ass.
So I implore ever one at ASR to keep learning and to spread their knowledge to the members here.

 

[Blumlein 88]

I don't think that has necessarily has to do with "smartness", many really educated people on a topic can explain it superbly, a great example is Dr. Toole. In my experience often "semi-experts" are the ones who don't write or explain well, also due to their lack of education and deep understanding.

Maybe. I heard the expression many times that if you cannot explain something you do not understand it. Bullshit. I am not good explaining myself, but there are things I most definitely understand and can prove it yet I'm not good explaining it. I have trouble picturing in my mind what others don't know for something I do know. It isn't a lack of deep understanding of the subject. It is a lack of understanding of those without the understanding and how it looks to them. Two different talents. You can have both, but you can also have one without the ability of the other to explain.

 

[thewas]

Maybe. I heard the expression many times that if you cannot explain something you do not understand it. Bullshit. I am not good explaining myself, but there are things I most definitely understand and can prove it yet I'm not good explaining it. I have trouble picturing in my mind what others don't know for something I do know. It isn't a lack of deep understanding of the subject. It is a lack of understanding of those without the understanding and how it looks to them. Two different talents. You can have both, but you can also have one without the ability of the other to explain.

Yes, that's why I had written above "many really educated people on a topic can explain it superbly" and not "all".

 

[mhardy6647]

As you double quote "experts", I'm not quite sure if you mean experts, or "experts".

It's on the internet, anyone can pretend to be anything.

Pretty sure that he meant "expert 'experts'"
... but not that I am an """expert""" on expertise.

 

[Keith_W]

It's on the internet, anyone can pretend to be anything.

In real life, anyone can pretend to be anything too. All you need to say is "I identify as ..."

 

[Fred H]

I heard the expression many times that if you cannot explain something you do not understand it. Bullshit.

Agree. But I learned from teaching that explaining something helped me understand it better. Which helped me explain it. Etc. Etc.

 

[tmtomh]

What I observed is that many experts often do not agree with each other about aspects yet may well agree on other aspects of the discussed subject.
This could stem from them not being true experts in the exact same field but be experts in other areas of the 'overall' subject and or have an equal amount of hands-on experience.

It is also easy to misinterpret something a true expert says as he may be including aspects one really was not even considering.

Not all experts are masters in explaining things in such a way that even laymen may understand.

Sometimes someone with an authoritative way of writing can appear to be an expert but in reality just is a loud mouthed individual.

One can also claim to be an expert but not really be one.
Too little knowledge can be just as big as a problem as having too much knowledge.
The most dangerous 'expert' is one that in reality isn't a real expert but believes/claims he is one.

Agreed. I'm not at all an expert in the fields we discuss here, but I am a professional academic and one thing I've learned over the decades is that professional/credentialed expertise tends to be just as narrow as it is deep. This means you'll come across a lot of experts who make persuasive-sounding pronouncements about topics that are just outside their narrow range of expertise. So they sound fully informed and authoritative, which can make their assertions all the more misleading when they are flawed, incomplete, or incorrect. I'm not saying most folks with expertise engage in this "expertise creep" intentionally or with bad motives. They're just imperfect humans like the rest of us.

To me the most notable cautionary tale in this regard came around February-March of 2020 when all kinds of experts could be found on the news and in online videos and forums making all kinds of claims about COVID. I lost track of the number of practicing doctors and nurses who I saw writing that it would be like the flu and people were just getting into a tizzy. I also saw epidemiologists wildly claiming that cruise-ship outbreaks suggested that COVID must get passed through food; and who can forget all the experts who picked up on that notorious aerosol-on-surfaces preprint article from March 2020 to say that COVID remained viable on surfaces for 72 hours, leading to the whole "wash your mail/don't touch your groceries for 24 hours/wipe down everything with bleach and ammonia" insanity of the first few months?

 

[Ricardus]

Maybe. I heard the expression many times that if you cannot explain something you do not understand it. Bullshit. I am not good explaining myself, but there are things I most definitely understand and can prove it yet I'm not good explaining it.

I bet you can explain it.

 

[TheBatsEar]

I am noticing the level of discussion in all areas of topical/subject matter here @ ASR is really increasing due to ASR attracting many more "experts" than we even had not long ago.

Or maybe the moderation is just faster in removing the nonsense?

I for one think we don't have enough experts posting strange cat pics, this should be top of the agenda.

 

[thegeton]

I'm really liking this thread. One of the many reasons I came to, and remain engaged with ASR.

I'm an EE but I'm not an expert in anything really. I'm a system designer, not a digital or analog guy. Like others here, I know enough to recognize bullshit, but I'm never going to approach the depth of understanding possessed by many of our fellow ASR citizens. I'm totally ok with that.

I really enjoy the ASR learning aspect and have a tendency to lurk on a thread long before I post (if I do ever post). My dear old Dad taught us kids to listen to a conversation for at least 5 minutes before we opened our yap. Still seems like useful advice.

I'm in awe of the information density on ASR. It seems like I could read here forever and never read it all (let alone understand some of it). It's heaven.

 

[somebodyelse]

Or maybe the moderation is just faster in removing the nonsense?

I for one think we don't have enough experts posting strange cat pics, this should be top of the agenda.
View attachment 295622

Taken somewhere near the Cave of Caerbannog?

 

[phoenixdogfan]

As a card carrying pseudo-expert, I agree.

 

[Zensō]

I am noticing the level of discussion in all areas of topical/subject matter here @ ASR is really increasing due to ASR attracting many more "experts" than we even had not long ago. Some of the subject matter is definitely advanced expert stuff and is impressive that ASR and @amirm has created this place of sanity and advancement. The speaker gurus are definitely going for it and all the other areas have some mighty fine contributions in discussion too. To see what this place becomes in several years will be intriguing for sure.

Agreed. And it seems the number of trolls (purposeful or accidental) is also increasing. I suppose both are an indication the site's reach continues to expand.

 

[Timcognito]

Amir has not changed his approach very much and is among the very, very few how are willing to call out a bad product with the data to prove it. Fortunately this brings many devoted members to ASR and unfortunately, it appears to scare away some of the high end, so called high performance builders.

 

[Robbo99999]

My problem is I need someone just a little smarter than me or I cannot learn from them. Some of our experts are too smart for me to follow. Also with an electronics education, but no EE. Still a good problem to have. As long as I only lurk in those threads nobody can know for certain how much I don't know.

I don't think it matters how much smarter someone is than you, what matters is how they explain things & teach stuff, and also trying to recognise if in the first place they do genuinely know what they're talking about.

 

[estuardo4]

I don't think it matters how much smarter someone is than you, what matters is how they explain things & teach stuff, and also trying to recognise if in the first place they do genuinely know what they're talking about.

Also, if you're an expert, you have to have a lot of patience. Mr. Toole and Mr. Olive, and even regular expert members here has to have it. And I really appreciate them for it.

Imagine repeat the same arguments for more than 50 years to the same "experts" knowing that it is a waste of digital ink. But they do it all the same.

 

[mhardy6647]

Or maybe the moderation is just faster in removing the nonsense?

I for one think we don't have enough experts posting strange cat pics, this should be top of the agenda.
View attachment 295622

"That rabbit's dynamite!"