(11-22-2019 10:36 AM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  

(11-22-2019 10:29 AM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  

(11-22-2019 10:26 AM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  

(11-22-2019 10:06 AM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  

(11-22-2019 09:55 AM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  I run int people all the time who think having a Ph.D. ir two master's means you are smart.

I think a person with a 120 IQ who goes through a graduate program and graduates, does so with a piece of paper and a 120 IQ.

Earning degrees is largely a matter of doing the work. My sister has several. I have to take care of her. Despite her doctorate earned in Switzerland.

As for expertise gained from actually being in a country, I guess that makes me an expert on Mexico. I wonder why Lad will not defer to to my expertise on matters Mexican. But he does not.

Well this is a new twist on what was being argued.

Never said a degree being conferred = intelligence. I argued that it is a sign of expertise. Expertise is defined as "expert skill or knowledge in a particular field."

You're right that getting a degree is largely a matter of doing work. When it comes to post-secondary degrees, that work focuses more intensely on a particular field, which means you gain an expertise in said field.

You're literally trying to argue that someone who lived/worked in an area, then went through a multiple year program studying that area, and then continued to research and write about that area, doesn't have an expertise in that area.

I am befuddled, but not shocked.

Well, if a Ph.D. in women's studies makes one an expert on women, I sure wasted my youth studying business. I guess I could ask my first wife if we would still be together had I studied Women's studies.

The piece of paper does nothing more than give a presumption of knowledge - but I think you and I both know Ph.D.'s who are damn fools. And I also know highly intelligent and competent people with only a HS diploma or less.

Again - I never argued that a degree denotes intelligence. Expertise and intelligence are distinctly different.

Are you intentionally arguing that studying a specific topic does not increase one's knowledge of the topic???

Sometimes that it true. Studying accounting increased my knowledge of accounting. And yes, I won a prize for one of my papers in accounting. That does not make me a good choice to do your taxes, simple as I suspect they are. But studying marketing did not make me a marketing expert. Studying economics did not prepare me for going on TV to predict the market. But I sure have that piece of paper that some might find an important credential. They might presume I knew what I was talking about. But apparently you have seen through through my facade.

But now we're talking about the validity of your analysis, not whether you have the expertise to discuss it.

Y'all are trying to make it sound like I said Michel was infallible - I simply said his schooling and background indicate he has an expertise in the topic, which means he likely knows what he is talking about.

I find it a bit troubling how quickly you and Tanq are happy to dismiss someone's overall qualifications.