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Do you consider yourself a true expert at anything?

lokiju

lokiju

Lifer
I filled out an assessment yesterday that asked me to rank myself on a scale of 0 to 4.

0 = No Experience/Skill
1 = Novice
2 = Generalist
3 = Strong
4 = Expert

Got me to thinking, who here knows they're an absolute, undeniable expert in something?

If so, what?

No matter how good I think I am at something I always think I can and try to improve at it. Which tends to make me never consider myself an expert at much but others I work with seem to think I am.
 
I don't think many qualify as true experts in any field as most, if not all, fields of endeavor constantly evolve and grow, making continuing education necessary. And even with cont. ed., it's hard to keep up with advances/etc. that happen within any field, esp. science related.

As for myself, when I was practicing as an RN, I'd have put my skills/knowledge base up against anyone, within a few narrow areas, such as open heart/cardiovascular surgery and working an ER. But most of my focus had been cardiac related and was quite good at it. Expert? Don't think it exists in that field, but from what I saw working with some doctors, I put my skill and knowledge ahead of a few of them......some MD's made me wonder how the heck they even graduated from med. school, much less got patients to actually treat them.
 
Being an expert in a particular area doesn't mean that you have nothing more to learn, or no more room for improvement.

So yeah, I'm an expert at three or four things.
 
I hate those kind of questions. I take the same stance as you regarding knowledge. There's a few things I'm in the upper percentile on, but I'd never call myself an expert. There's always more to learn, and refinements that can be made. I'm automatically distrustful of anyone who puts themselves forward as being an expert.
 
lxskllr said:
I hate those kind of questions. I take the same stance as you regarding knowledge. There's a few things I'm in the upper percentile on, but I'd never call myself an expert. There's always more to learn, and refinements that can be made. I'm automatically distrustful of anyone who puts themselves forward as being an expert.
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With 20k+ posts, you have to have some sort of ATOT expertise? Perhaps your an expert at identifying bullshit? 😉
 
lxskllr said:
I hate those kind of questions. I take the same stance as you regarding knowledge. There's a few things I'm in the upper percentile on, but I'd never call myself an expert. There's always more to learn, and refinements that can be made. I'm automatically distrustful of anyone who puts themselves forward as being an expert.
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This is my stance...
 
lokiju said:
4 = Expert

Got me to thinking, who here knows they're an absolute, undeniable expert in something?
Click to expand...

15 years experience in the fabrication of ASME certified heat exchangers. I would call myself an expert in the heat exchanger fabrication field.

I can also build pressure vessels, but its nothing I "like" to do. The DOT certified tanks are a lot easier to build then towers.
 
lxskllr said:
I'm automatically distrustful of anyone who puts themselves forward as being an expert.
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I really don't understand this. I mean, if you had a decade long career of rebuilding Ford automatic transmissions, you wouldn't consider yourself an expert at it???
 
lxskllr said:
I hate those kind of questions. I take the same stance as you regarding knowledge. There's a few things I'm in the upper percentile on, but I'd never call myself an expert. There's always more to learn, and refinements that can be made. I'm automatically distrustful of anyone who puts themselves forward as being an expert.
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that's silly. being a expert does not mean you know everything.

As wingznut said if you have a job rebuilding Automatic transmissions wouldn't you consider yourself a expert? i would. And yes if i knew what the qualifications are for them claiming to be a expert i wouldn't be skeptical at all. Now someone claiming to be a expert in a bunch of different things without being able to back it up? yeah i wouldn't trust them in anything.

I know a lot of different things but wouldn't consider myself a expert in any. well i am damn good at baiting hooks..i would consider myself the master baiter!
 
Wingznut said:
I really don't understand this. I mean, if you had a decade long career of rebuilding Ford automatic transmissions, you wouldn't consider yourself an expert at it???
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An expert would understand why the transmissions were failing, and improve the construction. It seems as though people who state they're "experts" have political, or some other motive for doing so. That doesn't really apply to the OP, since the question was specifically asked, but someone who thinks themselves an expert likely also thinks they have nothing else to learn. That leads to stagnation, and suboptimal implementation of whatever process they deal with.
 
Wingznut said:
Being an expert in a particular area doesn't mean that you have nothing more to learn, or no more room for improvement.

So yeah, I'm an expert at three or four things.
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This. There are parts of my job I'm a total pro at, but I'm only like that because I'm constantly pushing myself in those areas. I've still got plenty to learn.
 
lxskllr said:
but someone who thinks themselves an expert likely also thinks they have nothing else to learn.
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Even though I spent 15 years in the welding field, there is "always" something to learn.

New technology comes out from time to time, things change,,,, people learn everyday.

If you take something like metal working, its been basically the same for the past thousand years. Improvements have been made to the metal, welding has been improved,,,,,,. But we reach a certain point were progress slows down.

Then take something like technology, where something new comes out weekly, sometimes daily. Its going to be more difficult to stay on top of the technology field, as compared to metal working.

The welding techniques I learned in 1991 still apply to welding in 2011. The same can not be said about computer technology.
 
Wingznut said:
No... You'd be an expert at repairing the transmission. Not an expert at failure analysis and re-engineering them.
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Well, maybe I hold a higher standard to what qualifies as being an expert. IMO, an expert creates, and improves. Everything else is just technician/monkey work.
 
No I don't, but I am definitely getting closer to being an expert on the psychology of bipolar disorder.
 
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lxskllr said:
Well, maybe I hold a higher standard to what qualifies as being an expert. IMO, an expert creates, and improves. Everything else is just technician/monkey work.
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Well, again, an expert isn't defined as this unobtainable state of knowing every conceivable aspect about something.
 
Wingznut said:
Well, again, an expert isn't defined as this unobtainable state of knowing every conceivable aspect about something.
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So very true.

While I was working, I could drop an arterial, venous or central line into damned near anyone, anywhere, including neonates. Was I an expert in all aspects of everything I used to do the procedures, including how the catheters and needles were created? No, but that's what lxskllr suggests I must be able to do to be an expert. I'd have to create a new indwelling catheter or new needle structure, according to lxskllr, to be a true "expert." But that's just silly.

True, what I described was a technical skill, but is as much an art as skill, and was one that many tried and failed to master. Being an expert in something has little or nothing to do with making what you're working with/on. To me, that'd be a whole different field with different qualifications and expectations of expertise.
 
Probably in audio recording, that's about it. But there are still engineers that still show me a thing or two all of the time.
 
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