this post was submitted on 16 May 2024
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The internet has made a lot of people armchair experts happy to offer their perspective with a degree of certainty, without doing the work to identify gaps in their knowledge. Often the mark of genuine expertise is knowing the limitations of your knowledge.

This isn't a social media thing exclusively of course, I've met it in the real world too.

When I worked as a repair technician, members of the public would ask me for my diagnosis of faults and then debate them with me.

I've dedicated the second half of my life to understanding people and how they work, in this field it's even worse because everyone has opinions on that topic!

And yet my friend who has a physics PhD doesn't endure people explaining why his theories about battery tech are incorrect because of an article they read or an anecdote from someone's past.

So I'm curious, do some fields experience this more than others?

If you have a field of expertise do you find people love to debate you without taking into account the gulf of awareness, skills and knowledge?

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

in mental health, yes actually, a surprisingly large amt of people look to me to be the expert. it's often just as challenging to help someone see that they're the expert on themselves.

you'd expect a lot of tiktok diagnoses and bizarro pseudo science attitudes, and while those do come up, they aren't that prevalent. and it's usually a symptom of something, i.e. someone with paranoid/grandiose delusions preaching med noncompliance.

I dont encounter anyone who thinks my work is just a joke, but plenty who believe I cant help them and they're better off on their own

[–] [email protected] 5 points 6 months ago

I do specialty work in electrical engineering systems, and I am meticulous and careful about what I say, because it appears that at a certain level in this field no one will question anything you say, because no one understands what you’re talking about.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 6 months ago (5 children)

Not an expert on shit, but... My rule of thumb is to not believe anything, from anyone, in a social media context. Anyone can say they're whatever; I can't verify if that is the truth though. And I also cannot verify if those who verify others are trustworthy. The only way you can prove you are who you say you are is to doxx yourself.

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[–] radix 4 points 6 months ago (1 children)

In your case, I'm guessing lots of people have heard the horror stories of shitty, scammy repair techs in various fields (automobiles being one prominent example). The good ones have to deal with the occupational reputation driven by the worst of them.

For me, I don't consider myself a real expert in any specific subject, but I'm adjacent to a number of financial areas. I try not to delve into the weeds of those internet discussions too often (like I said, not an ironclad expert), and even when I do, it's only to address the most egregious errors. Money can be an emotional topic, and many of those opinions are based on the way people want the world to be rather than the way it is, so show up with facts and references and they tend to understand.

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[–] Anticorp 4 points 6 months ago

Yes, all the time online. I stopped engaging with them several years ago. They're so sure of their expertise, while missing decades of knowledge. It's not worth my time.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 6 months ago

Ha. The VIP that I work for doesn't have time for me to tell them how to solve their technical issues. So, no, not currently. But in the past it was different.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 6 months ago (3 children)

Imagine what working in aerospace feels like with the Boeing shit.

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 months ago (2 children)

People in my own office don't listen to me, why would anyone on the street?

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 months ago (1 children)

I struggle to make my mum take my advice about subjects of my field of expertise for which I had spent 5 cruel years at Uni. So I am at peace now not being able to make my point across the internet.

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

I have a MSc in Computational Media. I've had to read a lot of research on the dangers of social media, how harmful ideas spread online, and how people form unhealthy relationships with platforms. LW is still federated with LML, and I think my instance is still federated with Hexbear. So no, people don't give a quarter of a fuck what I have to say.

[–] Delphia 3 points 6 months ago

Im no expert but after 15 years in mail and parcel logistics I know shit. Ive been told Im "too close to the issue" to be objective. I even posted links to business services for a major international carrier to back up what I said and apparently any evidence I provide is "Biased"

So the only people you can turn to for factual answers are people with no fucking idea apparently.

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