Marc Riddell wrote:
Ya know what we need in WP, an Article on
Expertaphobia: The fear of, and
seeming intimidation by, people who know stuff about things.
I think there is one somewhere already, maybe on meta.
Someone, I don't recall who it was, wrote that
they would never work on
something where experts were involved. Really? Who would you go to if you
needed heart surgery, or wanted to learn how to play a violin?
Don't look now, but you are working with the aid of experts right now! Those
marvelous persons behind the scenes of this computerized market place who
make all of this possible. Without them we would be typing into the ether.
Indeed, I'm an expert in some areas myself, and there are even a couple
articles in WP where I could fairly lay claim to being the "leading
authority" on those topics. There have been plenty of times where I've
seen a moronic edit and spluttered at the screen "who do you think you
are, to be questioning *me*?", and times where I was tempted to add an
interesting detail, and then realized that I only knew it because of a
private email in my possession - so the WP addition must await
publication of the book.
WP is an unusual challenge for experts, because you can't just say "X is
true" and have a crowd of adoring students copy it down uncritically.
It's much more like being the ringer at the pool hall, where you go in
unknown and have to impress people with your present skill rather than
your past reputation. I think it's a good challenge for experts actually
- can you command respect for your knowledge using your words alone,
without falling back on the CV? We have some pseudonymous experts in WP
who are really world-class and receive considerable deference, so it can
work that way.
Stan