Everyone is an expert

Ok, so over the past few years, Ive taken on a variety of new interests, and always keen to learn something about my newly aquired hoby, as usual these days I have turned to the internet. Interesting as it may seem, contrary to the many differences between each hoby, there is always a few things to be found in common. Experts.

With the rise of the internet, there came the chat room, then when everyone realized that it would be more fun to discuss things of common interest came the forum. Web forums are the home to what I would classify as ‘the expert’. The one who poses silly questions, so they can get a little buzz when they receive a reply. the one who answers a question – not because actually know or care about the answer, but because they can repeat off the answer that was given on the same topic just a few weeks earlier.

Then there are the topics of conversation – the usual rhetoric, as it were. When I was heavily into French cars, it was always the idea of creating a 205 Mi16, with mountain biking it was always about what it takes in terms of training and commitment to make the national team, and with photography, its all about mastering Rodinal for your tri-x negatives shot on a leica III.

You know what all these things have in common? They all posses a somewhat elusive and unobtainable nature that allures our ‘experts’ to spend hours attached to the computer perpetuating the myth and propagating misinformation from other ‘experts’. But at the end of the day, what have they achieved? Have they actually started to build a car, trained for real, or shot a few rolls of film? No, they probably have spent their days scourering ebay and the like for the perceived necessary tools to become a real ‘pro’ and impress their online buddies with there new found interests.

So I guess my message is this.! If your into cars, go and learn to drive, if you’re an aspiring mtb rider go and spend the consistent miles (its not rocket science you know!), and if your into photography, go and shoot (You know it wasn’t the camera responsible for the most famous images ). Stop talking about doing it, get off your arse and do something; If you have something useful, then share it! And to everyone else, as usual beware of what you are reading, be critical in this age of 'the expert'.