Re: [tlug] What would happen to the Internet if the US fell off the map

["Josh Glover" <jmglov@example.com>]

On 06/08/07, Stephen J. Turnbull <stephen@example.com> wrote:

> Manifest to other experts, yes.  But the value in expertise is
> precisely that the expert can make valid statements that non-experts
> can't evaluate with a reasonable amount of effort.

And this is precisely my point. I have to decide to trust that
"factual" statements Steve makes about economics are correct, or spend
lots of time fact-checking. And that "lots of time" may well be
measured in years.

It is a two-way street, though; if Steve asserts his expertise, he has
an obligation to make his argument accessible to non-experts if he
wants a discussion to arise.

I don't see experts on this list saying things like "I am Josh Glover,
and I am an expert, therefore you are wrong", so I think this is the
way that TLUG discussions work anyway.

Like Steve said, we have some pretty amazing experts on this list:
Simon Cozens, Chris Sekiya, Jim Breen, Steve himself, Jim Tittsler, et
al. Note that none of those guys have ever used their credentials to
end a discussion. All of them make this list a wonderful resource.

> Well, I agree that Josh went too far in suggesting an obligation to
> introduce oneself.

Perhaps he did. :)

Can we compromise by asking people to introduce themselves via a User:
page in the wiki, then people are easily look-up-able. (I know,
Google, but I don't have time to sift through results sorting out the
two famous Steve Turnbulls, for example).

> But there is great benefit to knowing somebody's
> credentials.  Experts are authorities (though the field of authority
> is far smaller than the field of expertise), and that should normally
> shortcut certain silly discussions.  Credentials can also point out
> potential bias.[1]

Thank you for stating my argument more clearly that I could.

> One thing we do have to be careful about is that for *us* degrees or
> even job titles are often not very important credentials.  Attila
> Kinali is a salient example; he had Josh convinced he was an avatar of
> Jon Postel[2],

C&C warning, damnit! ;)

> I consider it to be a rare privilege to be associated with the posters
> to TLUG (*all* of them, and without distinction!)

+1

-- 
Cheers,
Josh