It’s early spring here in California, and I’ve noticed that the parsley plant growing in the planter by my front door has suddenly become rather large. Not knowing what to do with so much of it, I did a little research on the Internet to see if I could parlay my initial curiosity about parsley into a reputation as an established expert on the herb. With the huge number of micro communities on the Web and more universities making course materials available online, I discovered that highly specialized knowledge is increasingly becoming available to anyone who seeks it out.
Traditionally, specialized skills and the level of knowledge required to consider yourself an expert were most often obtained by first completing rigorous training in more generalized areas. The generalized knowledge was then followed by intensive study of the specialization through an internship or apprenticeship, or by studying with one of a small number of experts in your chosen field. The university system of education is structured according to this model -- you can’t enroll in high-level courses without first completing the prerequisites.
While this democratization of specialized knowledge might make the Church of Scientology cringe, I’ve found that being able to dip my toes into a specialization often has the effect of making me more curious about the general principles that are keeping me from fully understanding a subject.
With a narrow enough specialization, it’s possible to fool some people into thinking you’re an expert with only a couple hours of online research. For example, are you aware that curly parsley (Petroselinum crispum) has a more mild flavor and doesn’t stand up to heat as well as Italian, or flat leafed, parsley (Petroselinum neapolitanum, duh), which is the variety more often used for cooking? This is just one of the hundreds of facts I learned about parsley in about half an hour of research.
Armed with my new-found knowledge of parsley, I decided to seek out a Web community of parsley fanatics and find out how convincing I can be as one of the world’s foremost parsley experts -- and maybe even use parsley as a springboard to fulfill my dream of getting my own cooking show.
My first stop was MySpace , where I found a group named “Parsley Makes it Fancy.” I posted a message claiming to be the world’s foremost authority on parsley and invited the group to ask me questions. Unfortunately, this group turned out to be inactive and the members weren’t really serious about parsley. Of course, it turns out that anyone who has ever grown parsley from seed has more practical knowledge of parsley than I do. I, however, am awesome at searching Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) and BSing. My goal was to see just how far these skills could carry me in the rarified world of parsley experthood.
A funny thing started happening, however. After a couple days of reading about parsley, answering questions about parsley, and telling people that I’m now one of the world’s foremost authorities on parsley, I realized that I know more about this often overlooked herb than almost everyone I know. I’ve found errors, oversights, and gross simplifications in the Wikipedia article.
No one besides me (and my wife, who is probably tired of hearing about it) has taken much notice of my new status. However, it’s undeniable that a change has taken place. Like so many computer book authors, I’ve gone from knowing nothing about the topic to being a semi-convincing (and published) expert in less than a week. I’m updating an encyclopedia entry on the subject, for goodness sake!
Experts are the people who are able to stand to think about one thing intensely, who have the right answers or skills, and who have the nerve to call themselves experts. Whether they gained this knowledge and confidence through years of study or whether they’re simply good at Googling and somewhat cocky, the result is the same: People respect experts as long as they can deliver the parsley.
Thanks for the post. It's very interesting, and insightful as well, to learn what makes an expert in the age of search engine and open encyclopedia. Just a little point and question. I understand that parts, some of the big parts, of knowledge is the amount of information and the means to access the information. We have had those two necessary element. Now, what about the analysis skill? The capacity to break down the object and put it together and place it in the big picture. Does the technology enhance our capacity to do that?
And the second thing about authority is the ability to exert it. In other word, authority means nothing if we can do nothing about it. Now, does online expertise translate into real world expertise?
My credo has always been that I know a little about a lot of things, and when I need to know more, I know where to look and how that information fits in the broader picture. To me this has always been the most normal way of dealing with questions - just using common sense - but I've experienced that people greatly appreciate the answers I provide from information that was already out there (one former colleague formulated this in such a complimentary way that I decided to use his quote on my homepage).
Through the Internet we basically have all the information in the World at our fingertips, and an expert can no longer distinguish himself or herself by having knowledge and understanding ready - not even by knowing where to look, since anyone can use Google and Wikipedia.
In my opinion, true expertise in this age is first of all understanding what answer is expected, and then from all the available information on the topic filter out the relevant bits and synthesize a comprehensible answer. It helps of course if you already have some working knowledge on a general area to know how the information fits in the bigger scheme of things, but as Chris demonstrated that's not always a requirement.
The thing with growing parsley from seed is that you need to soak the seeds overnight before planting.
I made some tomato sauce from a recipe in 'the joy of cooking' last night. It calls for 1/3 cup of chopped parsley. It doesn't specify flat or curly. I used flat-leaf, but I'm sure curly would be good too (maybe just use more of it!). We used some of the sauce for pizza, and we'll use the rest with some sort of pasta tonight. I think parsley makes just about any sauce, soup, or stew taste better. It's also good for tabouli, of course!
It's true that there are many self-appointed experts online.
*ahem*
But I have this non-rhetorical question for you: how hard is it to grow parsley from seed? And, aside from it's function as bitter herb on the Passover plate, what kind of dish does curly parsley taste good in?
The caveat in all this is being able to trust the information you see on the net. In dealings with my teenagers, I am constantly reminding them they need to validate the info they are viewing before acting on it.
In your case a Parsley plant may not do as well but a dieting teenage girl visiting a "ProMia" site reading how to flush her body can do some serious damage.
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