Let's talk about self-described experts, shall we?
By definition, a "self-described" expert is someone that few or
no other people would acknowledge as an expert, someone whom only himself would call an expert. A self-described expert might be, for instance, an anonymous somebody on an internet forum. The self-described expert probably does not have a single credential, possibly has never worn a badge, and probably has never taught a single class, but nevertheless holds forth as if he'd done all those things or had somehow simply absorbed the knowledge to criticize those who had. Of course, if you were to ask anyone outside of the self-described expert's favorite forum stomping grounds, well, no one's ever heard of the guy -- and
no one except himself would give a rat's hind end for his opinion.
That is what a self-described expert looks like.
A true expert, on the other hand, would have experience both as a student and as an instructor going back ... oh, say, three decades or so, and at a wide variety of schools. He would be quoted as an authoritative source in a dozen or more books. If he claimed knowledge of the law enforcement field, he would have references from major names in law enforcement in big cities across the nation. He might be the key instructor in several videos widely used in police training nationwide, for instance. If he claimed legal expertise, he would have more than a dozen lawyers ready to vouch for his expertise and professionalism. If he claimed expertise as a shooter, you could expect such a person would have at least a couple dozen major competitions under his belt -- and would have won or placed in at least a few of those. That's what an expert looks like.
Is an expert sometimes wrong? Sure. Is a "self-described expert," an anonymous internet nobody, occasionally right? Sure. But only a fool sneers at the expert simply because he
is an expert.
*shrug* Suit yourself. Most folks do, anyway.
pax
As to the abuses I meet with, I number them among my honors. One cannot behave so as to obtain the esteem of the wise and the good without drawing on oneself at the same time the envy and malice of the foolish and wicked, and the latter is testimony of the former. -- Benjamin Franklin
The race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong. But that's the way to bet. -- my grandad.