Tag: expert

Experts Don’t Know

Experts say “I don’t know.”

Smart people say “I don’t know.”

Scientists say “We don’t know.”

To be human is to search for answers, to gain knowledge, to understand.

People who say they have the answers may have some of the answers, they may know some things… but anyone who tells you they have all the answers is a liar. It might be a religion, or a politician, or someone you work with… They are cheaters, charlatans, and their confidence is false.

If you think AI has all the answers, it does not… but people believe AI has all the answers, or eventually will have all the answers. This is incorrect.

If AI “hallucinates” and gives you a wrong answer, it’s like a child lying to receive approval. AI is meant to be a pleasing machine for humans in search of answers.

You will find no answers to the struggles we face as humans by looking to the machines.

Be eager to say “I don’t know… but I want to find out!”

Be Human. Be human to other humans… and be true to yourself.

Tags expert, human

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Be The Expert in 2025

Post author By Pete Prodoehl
Post date 2025-02-26

It’s 2025, the world is in chaos, systems are failing, news organizations are struggling, and the people are suffering.

There is so much bullshit out there, much of it from AI, but hey, I want to be fair to those people I know who keep telling me “Dude, it’s not AI, it’s the people!” because yeah, it is the people using AI… And why are they using AI? Because they want or need money. Any why do they want or need money? It might be because we live in a Capitalist Hellscape.

So now, more than ever, if you have the means, if you have a little bit of spare time, if you are willing to share you experience… Do it. Please. Do it. Be a human voice.

I know, you’re worried “But Pete, I am not an expert, I don’t have any expertise to share!” And I’ll remind you of what I said nearly 20 years ago…

You are the expert at your own experience.

This was my pitch for getting people involved in the first BarCampMilwaukee. I remember someone saying “Well, I’ve installed Linux and I use it, but I’m no expert.”

My response: You are the expert at your own experience. No one knows more about your own experience than you do. You’ve installed Linux? Congrats! You know more about it than someone who has never installed Linux.

One thing I learned about teaching is that you just need to know more about a subject than the person you are teaching. That’s it. If I know more about making pizza than you do, I can share that information with you. That information is going to be based on my own experience.

I am not a professional pizzaiolo, and there are thousands or millions of people who are better than I am at making pizzas, but if you know me, and you trust me, then perhaps you would read my Pizza Advice and find it somewhat useful. If I got something wrong, tell me. I want to learn.

Now, back to the AI slop mentioned above. I’ve been publishing/writing for four decades. I didn’t do it for money or fame, I did it to say something, to be heard, to connect with people, and I am not chasing dollars by writing this. Again, I have some privilege. I can host my own web site, I can spend 20 minutes a day not working for money to take a break and write this.

So get that blog going. Dust off the old one, start a new one… Post on the free and open Internet. Fuck Twitter/X, Fuck Facebook, Fuck those Fuckers who will lord over your content, hide it, delete it, and try to erase you.

And if I’ve done anything today, I’ve shown that it’s okay to go on a rant every now and then…

Tags blogging, expert

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Return of the EXPERT

Back in 2009 I took this photo of myself with EXPERT written on the whiteboard behind me. I had no grandiose scheme when I took the photo. It was taken at the office of z2 Marketing, in the conference room. I’ll admit, part of the reason I took the “EXPERT” photo had to do with a (slight) jab at people who were declaring themselves “experts” at the time. The photo gets used a lot when someone posts an article and needs a photo that depicts an expert or expertise.

When the photo is used, people who know me tend to tell me about it, which is nice, as it’s fun to track the usage of the photo. Of course I really do like to get credit for my work, so if you use it, please credit it properly, because I am also an expert in Creative Commons.

The most recent use is in an article titled The Death Of Expertise. (It’s an interesting article, go read it!)

Now, as far as being an expert, I like to say “You are an expert at your own experience”. This goes back to 2006, when we had one of the first meetings about BarCampMilwaukee. We were discussion session topics and someone said “Well, I’ve installed Linux a few times, but I’m no expert at it.” I then pointed out to the person the fact that he was an expert to anyone who had never installed Linux, and that sharing your own personal experience is an important part of teaching and learning.

Through the years of helping make unconferences happen, and getting involved in Milwaukee Makerspace, and in publishing this blog, I’ve come to understand just how important it is to recognize that you need be willing to share the things you know, even if you don’t think you know enough, and you also need to be accepting of others when they don’t know everything, because really, no one does. No one is an expert in all things.

Through the open sharing of knowledge, and the willingness to accept that no one is a expert (while we are also all experts) we can all end up learning more than we ever would on our own.