Expertise by Curtis Prevo

Expertise

by Curtis Prevo

“They’ve never even been to Cambodia!”

“Who’s to say that’s an entirely negative thing?”

“They can’t be authorities on a subject if they haven’t even seen it.”

“So you’re saying that blind people can’t ever be authoritative figures.”

“No, I’m saying that to be an authority on issues of Cambodian lifestyles, you have to at least visit there.”

“Okay. Basically, nobody really knows anything about the stars, then.”

“Seriously? We can all see the stars. People with giant telescopes have become experts…”

“You really hate blind people, don’t you?”“I see where you’re going with this, but that won’t work with me.”

“You keep changing your story. Is it seeing, or is it visiting that determines a level of expertise?”

“It depends on the situation.”

“Are you the decider of situational expertise?”

“Sure. Whatever.”

“Okay, so how come Stephen Hawking is considered an expert on black holes?”

“He’s a leading theorist…”

“…that has never been to, nor seen—by definition—a black hole.”

“I give up!”

“Does that make me an expert at arguing?”