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Hunter S Thompson on Experts
Posted on February 16, 2013 by ZachWeiner
Perfect.
One of the few consistent traits shared by “experts” in any field is that they will almost never bet money on anything else that might turn up in public or whatever they call their convictions. That is why they are “experts.” They have waltzed through that minefield of high-risk commitments that separates politicians from gamblers, and once you’ve reached that plateau where you can pass for an expert, the best way to stay there is to hedge all your bets, private and public, so artistically that nothing short of a thing so bizarre that it can pass for an “act of God” can damage your high-priced reputation.
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One Response to Hunter S Thompson on Experts
Being an expert is merely being more knowledgeable than most in a given field. It is not the same as knowing everything in this matter.
So when one is truly an expert in their field, they have a sense of its depth, its complexities, how it can be surprising at times, and more importantly, they feel more than most the limits of their own knowledge.
Add to this the fact that, quite often, you have to be some kind of geek to become a real expert: dedicated more than is reasonable to your subject, even obsessed with being exact about it.
These are some of the other reasons why actual experts are less likely to make bets, besides a supposed desire to protect their “high-priced reputation”!