131–140 of 177 posts
There is clearly a major problem with this in SV. A lot of people seem to confuse confidence with expertise, and fail to grasp that a scary proportion of the time the individual is so confident because they don’t understand the problems with what they are doing. Furthermore, modern software management practice doesn’t want this because it wants replaceable cogs. If you can recognize expertise you have to appreciate t…
The relevant question is - does it matter? The Formula 1 pit crew is more expert than the mechanics at the Toyota dealership in ways I can't appreciate - but does it matter for my Highlander's oil change?
The answer might be "Yes, the F1 crew will do it in a way that prolongs the life of your engine" (I care about that!) or "Yes, the F1 crew will change your oil in 20% of the time" (I may or may not care about saving a few minutes every 6 months) or "No, you won't notice a difference but they are just more expert" (in which case I totally don't care!)
Part of expertise is ability to articulate its relevance to a given situation. Your customer may need help in validating your expertise, but at least start with the claim of what you can do.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
// So why would you need to pass on your genes to study evolution? You can study whatever you want, I am questioning if you can be considered "expert" if you profoundly fail at the topic of your field.
> I am questioning if you can be considered "expert" if you profoundly fail at the topic of your field. You are confusing the person with the field of study. This confusion is more obvious if you think about the superconductor/ expert on superconduction example. A superconductor is a material which conducts direct current with near zero resistance. You can test if something is a superconductor by aligator clipping a…
Author here. Previous time this was on the front page: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30930985 As an update, I temporarily relocated to a different city and spent four months training Judo for five hours every day and have since reached the vocab point for the sport. That experiment was covered here: https://commoncog.com/expertise-acceleration-experiment-judo... and https://commoncog.com/mental-strength-judo-l…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I see zero problem with having no children and studying evolution. You don’t need to become superconductive to study the physics of superconductivity. You don’t need to become infected by every virus to study virology, and you definietly don’t need to be a virus to be a good virologist. So why would you need to pass on your genes to study evolution?
// So why would you need to pass on your genes to study evolution? You can study whatever you want, I am questioning if you can be considered "expert" if you profoundly fail at the topic of your field.
// Customers tends not to be experts. So after a certain level of skill has been achieved, any improvements that are made through experience are invisible to the people you’re selling to. The relevant question is - does it matter? The Formula 1 pit crew is more expert than the mechanics at the Toyota dealership in ways I can't appreciate - but does it matter for my Highlander's oil change? The answer might be "Yes, t…
F1 teams do have world class mechanics but most of them aren't part of the pit crews.
// Customers tends not to be experts. So after a certain level of skill has been achieved, any improvements that are made through experience are invisible to the people you’re selling to. The relevant question is - does it matter? The Formula 1 pit crew is more expert than the mechanics at the Toyota dealership in ways I can't appreciate - but does it matter for my Highlander's oil change? The answer might be "Yes, t…
F1 pit crew members are highly trained athletes who specialize in fast tire changes. Many of them are recruited from other sports based on strength, speed, and agility. They often have no real experience as automotive technicians. F1 teams do have world class mechanics but most of them aren't part of the pit crews.
Author here. Previous time this was on the front page: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30930985 As an update, I temporarily relocated to a different city and spent four months training Judo for five hours every day and have since reached the vocab point for the sport. That experiment was covered here: https://commoncog.com/expertise-acceleration-experiment-judo... and https://commoncog.com/mental-strength-judo-l…
On the topic, I'm reminded of coworkers talking about the most recent Super Bowl (I think, I don't follow sports) which included commentary from players who played as quarterbacks in the same season. One of the things my coworkers mentioned was how interesting it was to hear them talk about the game because they used unfamiliar terms.
There is clearly a major problem with this in SV. A lot of people seem to confuse confidence with expertise, and fail to grasp that a scary proportion of the time the individual is so confident because they don’t understand the problems with what they are doing. Furthermore, modern software management practice doesn’t want this because it wants replaceable cogs. If you can recognize expertise you have to appreciate t…
Wouldn't it be better to hire a mixture of specialists and generalists especially today when diversity should be focused in thought rather than looks. Someone not me said that specialists are a master of one and connector of none.
Not directly related to the article but I had two amusing encounters with expertise recently. I sat next to an Econ professor (at an Ivy) on a flight. I told him I had worked at a hedge fund, and he was like "wow, I could never put myself in a situation where my living depended on my economic theories being right." A good friend of mine is a kinda-famous evolutionary biologist. He's in his mid-40s now, unmarried and…