I’ve been called a “Gun Expert” many times… Even by guys like Massad Ayoob. I’m no such thing. Guys, no one is a Gun Expert. They might be an Expert on a certain branch or field of the Shooting Culture… but no one is an expert on all of it. I’m not Expert.
I’m an Enthusiast.
Enthusiasts are the best people to do anything with. If you do it because you love it chances are good that will translate to your students/co-enthusiasts and good training will result.
Speaking of which. I’m loading up and getting ready for Saturday. I can’t wait.
You are indeed an expert on at least modern commercially-available firearms with tactical and/or rodenticidal utility. 🙂
** Expert (n) adept: having or showing knowledge and skill and aptitude; a person with special knowledge or ability who performs skillfully
Maybe “Authority” is the word you mean to say you’re not.
** Authority (n) an expert whose views are taken as definitive
You do have peers of equal standing who disagree with you, but that doesn’t make you not an expert. Just not an authority.
AN expert does not mean THE expert (authority). Seems to me you rank within the firearm community in the upper echelons knowledgeable people. So depending on the topic at hand, expert would seem to fit.
The more you actually learn about a subject the more you realize that you have a lot more to learn and what’s more you discover what a lot of what you have learned is someone’s male bovine waste product. “Real” experts have a certain amount of humility about them.
My favorite lines are:
“I know all about Japan, I read this book on it.”
“I read on this internet blog that [insert myth here] and you should never [anatomically impossible anyway].
He who knows… knows he knows not.
I trust your opinion, that would be my definition of expert.
Experts dislike enthusiasts. Why? Because the enthusiast will generally get better results, despite lack of credentials, etc…
O-pinionated
G-un
R-esearch
E-xpert
If it’s in the name, it’s in the game.
“I came here to kick ass and chew bubble gum, and I’m all out of bubble gum.” – Roddy Piper, They Live 1988
The internet makes us all ‘experts’.