Throughout my life, I've run into many people (friends or otherwise) who were very skilled or extremely knowledgeable about something. The RPG thread in the Entertainment forum made me think of this.
For example, way back when I used to play D&D, there were 2 or 3 guys in my group who I swear had nearly memorized everything about D&D. They must have read every D&D manual that was ever released about a dozen times each. It seemed like every time we looked something up in the Dungeonmaster's Guide or Monster Manual or wherever, they knew the exact answer before we looked it up.
Do you have this sort of "over the top" knowledge (or skill or expertise or whatever) about anything? The closest I can come is talking about movies (although, I don't have a totally comprehensive catalogue of everything in my mind like those D&D players had). Whenever movies come up in conversation, I can usually say something like, "Yeah, that's the same guy who directed [movie title]," or "She was in [movie title] several years befor she became famous. She's the girl sitting at the table in the coffee shop when [actor] spills his coffee." Also, I can usually come within a year or so of guessing a movie's year of release. People at work are stunned when we are talking about movies, for instance, old monster movies, and I blurt out, "That one came out in 1957." (Although, that's pretty easy . . . it seems like MOST of the monster movies I watch came out in 1957!)
Any way . . . what can you contribute here? I think it's more interesting if your expertise is in something useless (like knowledge of movies or D&D rules) than something that could actually benefit mankind.
For me its hard to say because I always find theres someone better than me at something I thought I was an expert at. :bluesad:
In primary school, a colleague of mine, Nicholas Haggett called me the "dilly daft defining dictionary". I have always had a head full of info.
As far as being an expert, I can never claim to be an expert on anything, although colleagues in and clients of our local film industry readily acknowledge me as an expert on our 114 year old industry. Claims such as this always embarass the sh*t out of me: I'm just a guy who knows a little about films.
I've put this knowledge into a book which I'm trying to get published.
Im an expert at being completely unremarkable. :smile:
I make darn good Parmesan Garlic Bread.
Heavy Metal, oral sex and applying make-up. :wink:
(How is anyone supposed to be able to follow that? ^ :lookingup: )
Horses. I am 'expert' in things equestrian. I would not claim to be 'expert' in the other things I am good at; just on the subject of horses. And even then, I am always learning more.
I seem to know more about professional wrestling and its history that most other people I've ever met. I also seem to usually possess more knowledge about 1950s Sci-Fi movies than most.
My movie knowledge is usually met with, "why do you know this" and such
Quote from: The DarkSider on December 09, 2009, 12:31:01 PM
For me its hard to say because I always find theres someone better than me at something I thought I was an expert at. :bluesad:
Ditto...see you even beat me at this!
-Ed
Quote from: Ed, Just Ed on December 09, 2009, 04:27:08 PM
Quote from: The DarkSider on December 09, 2009, 12:31:01 PM
For me its hard to say because I always find theres someone better than me at something I thought I was an expert at. :bluesad:
Ditto...see you even beat me at this!
-Ed
Me three! :bluesad:
Though I try to say that I'm good at Photography. The only problem is that everywhere I look I see people taking waaaay better pictures. But if I'm in my immediate circle of "friends" I'm pretty damn good.
not an expert but I am a decent politics pugilist, guitar player and know a thing or two about bad movies
Ok honestly, heres what I think I'm good at;
Humor, sarcasm, writing, fishing, 80s pop culture, my job and a few other things...oh and vegetable gardening...but I learn something new every year in that field I find.
B.S. and not the degree. I can spread a layer of manure with the best of them.
Quote from: Circus Circus on December 09, 2009, 03:58:51 PM
Isn't everyone an expert of "receiving"? :teddyr:
Mick Foley reportedly once threw his back out while receiving. So apparently not.
Let's see . . . I know my Indian Artifacts very well, especially East Texas stuff. And I have a pretty broad range of knowledge about Presidential history. And I've widely read in the field of New Testament apologetics.
I can also grill pork ribs that will make your taste buds think they are in paradise.
Singing.
Procrastinating.
Pretty good at '70s and '80s musical knowledge.
Doing something for a while and then giving up on it. :teddyr:
Quote from: indianasmith on December 09, 2009, 08:13:12 PM
I can also grill pork ribs that will make your taste buds think they are in paradise.
Hmmm . . . can anyone say, "BADMOVIES.ORG BARBECUE"???
I will bring along the pap [maize meal porridge: delicious and good for you too] and some South African undies to wipe your hands on. :buggedout:
Quote from: Saucerman on December 09, 2009, 01:34:28 PM
I make darn good Parmesan Garlic Bread.
Trevor: *tummy rumbles* ~ sounds good. :thumbup:
I'm not an "expert" on anything, "fairly knowledgeable" is as far as I'd go :teddyr: Weightlifting and nutrition, guitar playing and basic music theory, at least as it applies to blues, rock and heavy metal styles. Golf; though knowing about it and being good at it are two different things.
I've been quoted as a computer expert in news releases from my place of employment, but that was quite a while back and I don't keep up with the technical end of things as much as I used to since I'm a manager now.
I suffer from being interested in too many things at once making me easily distracted. Also given the right tools and a diagram, I can fix pretty much any household appliance of electrical device.
I also have a head full of trivia, which takes people aback when they tap my inner geek. When I was much younger I tended to be pretty obnoxious about correcting people when they got some trivial fact wrong.
For an amateur, I'd say I cook/bake pretty good.
Making people laugh. My mother always said I should've been a stand-up comedian.
I'm also an expert in self-destruction :drink:
Well technically I'm an expert in the applications of fluorescent dye technology in cell and micro- biology. But thats just my job.
At Trivia I'm better than most folks, but I have huge gaps in Entertainment and sports-type categories.
-Ed
massage, licensed in mass.
The state of Kentucky seems to think I'm an expert on the law. But in reality, I'm not really much of an expert on anything, because I'm interested in too many different things to specialize in anything. I know more than most about surrealism, movies, classical music, literature...
I suppose I'm decent in History (it is my major in college), but the only portion I've really mastered would probably be WW2 history and even then I'm always learning something new about it.
I'm not yet an expert, but I am a pretty skilled martial artist, even though I haven't practiced in 4 years. My dad says I know a few things about auto racing (mainly referring to who drove with what teams, and things about chassis and engine combos)