Thank you for reminding us all that through our personal experiences, we have something to share with those who find themselves in similar snafus!

I think the word “expert” can be intimidating, especially to those of us who are perfectionists and minimize what we actually know. It’s also a broad term and doesn’t account for the many levels of knowledge, wisdom, and mastery. Even as a beginner, you can find yourself knowing a few more things than someone who hasn’t even begun yet or doesn’t know where to start.

@Tanya, Your comment was SO funny I was rolling over with laughter!

I’m not an expert, though, so I don’t know much about expertise. ;-)

The power derived from tagging your own competence in a particular problem domain as expert-level seems to come at the cost of semantic ambiguity and potentially even lying to yourself about your knowledge; something you stated early on was not the point.

I am all for the insights into and the criticisms against the power games underlying the cognitive filter systems that keep the poor from attaining the medical cost reimbursements that they are entitled to. Breaking through that wall makes one feel better, no doubt. Maybe the term “bureaucratic conqueror” would be more appropriate for that sentiment, though.

This isn’t a set language and it’s beauty is in its versatility.

No matter what words I use, they’ll be interpreted differently by different people. Just look at how each person in the comments perceives something different when I say “expert”. They perceive different meanings for the word itself, and they make different guesses at what my intent might be when I use that word.

I think the best solution in this case, since “expert” is a loaded (maybe even triggery) word for a lot of people, is to only use that particular word in my own head and to Kyeli, and to translate it into “competent” or “skilled” or something less likely to cause those sorts of reactions when I’m talking to others.

The point we were trying to make in our posts was about how it feels to become an expert (or competent, or skilled, or whatever) at something, and how awesome it can be for you, not about how you present yourself to others.

This is, of course, just my take. But as I see it, when someone calls themselves an expert in a given field I’m going to hold them to a higher scrutiny than if they had just claimed to be proficient (or skilled, competent, passionate, etc). On the other hand, if someone I trust tells me that someone is an expert at something I will take their word for it. Silly, I know, but such is the way of things.

It goes back to what Pace and Nathan brought up originally. Usually, when someone claims themselves expert at something, they’re seeking empowerment. Which instantly makes me question their motive. Are the looking to be paid? Are they looking for power? Are they delusional? It may be none of the above, but it’s my first perception.

It’s all in the accepted definition really, and English is an ever changing language, but I feel the use of expert without specialization is awkward.

“But the point is that I didn’t need to be that high caliber of expert. I only needed to be expert enough to get the job done, to feel confident, and to be empowered.”

This clears up the claim, but is flawed. If expert is specialization, and specialization is the pursuit of one study. Than being an expert isn’t just knowing enough to get the job done.

That being said, not all accepted experts are in fact specialists. Do we stick with the strict definition, or do we evolve the language?

Like Mantic-Angel said: hair-splitting about vocabulary aside, this is *great* stuff.

A term I like is “competency.” I like to know that, for a given knowledge domain, I can sit down and, perhaps with a bit of effort, become *competent.* It’s like driving: I don’t need to be a professional race car driver to feel in control, I just need enough knowledge and practice to get around comfortably and have some fun. At the same time, knowing I have the ability to acquire competency gives me confidence that, at least in many areas, I could become an expert (in the conventional sense) if I really wanted to.

And, in most areas, I *don’t* want to be an expert. “Expert” implies specialization (at least to me) and there are often many other ways I’d rather spend my time.

There can actively be downsides to being considered an expert. For example, in many workplaces I’ve found that once you become branded an expert in a given technology, people try to push all of the work related to that technology onto you. Now, if that technology is your passion and you really want to specialize in it, that’s probably pretty nice, so long as you don’t wind up getting taken advantage of. But if (like me, typically) you find that technology to be only one of *several* interesting technologies (or worse, if you don’t really care for it) it can be a royal PITA.

Likewise, it can play weird head games with people. If people perceive you as an expert and then ask you something you don’t know, they may wind up believing that thing is much more difficult than it is, or they may judge you as being overbilled and question your competency.

Ah, language.