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Correcting the experts and other follies

June 4, 2009

Many years ago during the summer, I was working in an apple orchard in Ellensburg, Washington.  Over lunches we’d go to the farmhouse and fuel up, and watch the Watergate hearings on TV or just talk about stuff, before returning to the trees to thin out unpromising applettes so the trees would devote their tonnage to more perfect examples.  (This is done using a chemical called Alar today, but back then it was done by hand.  I’d close my eyes at night and just see little cherry-sized apples.)

In one conversation, the orchard owner told the story of a truck engine he’d lost because, while he was driving across a field, the grasses had unscrewed the oil drain plug.  That seemed unlikely to me, and I said so.  The weathered old man replied; “Yep, I’ve had other people say that who didn’t know nothin’ too!” 

Well I knew enough to be dangerous but I was at the time of life where I had begun to suspect that didn’t add up to “everything,” so we all had a good laugh.  Over the years I’ve managed to put my foot in it with experienced people, but they mostly bore it kindly.  They’re not always right, but the odds are heavily in favor in any particular case.

Anyway the incident came to mind as I read this wonderful essay by Greg Laden on the nature of expertise: The Hurricane Lantern Effect.  It’s one of the best things I’ve read recently; he was doing field work in Africa and learned something about giving advice to people who actually know what they’re doing. 

And he discovered an unexpected reason why, in certain places, it’s crucially important to iron your clothes… even the underwear and socks.  Enjoy!

Categories: Uncategorized
  1. June 5, 2009 at 17:50 | #1

    Very cool linked blog … somehow I learned a log time ago to observe and respect how others did things, especially those living in traditional ways.  I don’t recall the exact instance when it dawned on me not to be an arsehole, but I’m sure it involved being thoroughly embarrassed by something I said.

  2. June 6, 2009 at 07:31 | #2

    I’m still learning how to put my foot in mouth. Getting better at it though. Not wanting to argue with all the conservatives at work around me and cause alienation has helped me learn when not to speak.

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