On 19/01/07, Marc Riddell <michaeldavid86(a)comcast.net> wrote:
What is your definition of an "expert"?
Please, for now, try to resist responding to the others' answers, simply
state your own.
My first approximation, off the top of my head: Someone who knows
their given field and can show they are regarded as someone who knows
said field.
The second part is of some importance. Cranks are often
highly-credentialed but their crankery is not respected even if other
things they know are. e.g. William Shockley, the usually-credited
inventor of the transistor, knew all about electronics, but his work
on racial differences in intelligence is considerably less regarded.
- d.