Arcane expertises

Most people have in-depth knowledge about a lot of stuff: football, baseball, cars, cooking...

I'm weird, I suppose, in that I don't know much about stuff that I would consider ''mainstream'' -- the above-mentioned stuff, geography, history, politics, current events...

But I do have a few fairly deep pockets of knowledge. Maybe not enough to make me an ''expert'' on any of these. But enough to converse intelligently with experts, and potentially ask some fairly probing, ''clarifying'' questions of them.

This last week, a work colleague tested out a questionnaire on me, for a study examining intimate partner homicides (the people interviewed will be in prison when interviewed). I was pleasantly surprised that not only was I able to make some pretty good (IMO) suggestions regarding some holes and possible mis-interpretations in the questionnaire, but I was also able to provide a few alternate solutions. Many of these solutions were based upon how other studies have set up their questionnaires -- and it occurred to me that I've examined a lot more questionnaires than ''normal folk'' would have.

About two months ago, I was over in the shed of one of my next-door brother-in-laws (I have one on either side), and the conversation turned to milling lumber (i.e. turning logs into 2" x 4"s and other sizes). I explained to him the distinction between flatsawn versus quartersawn versus riven boards, and the relative advantages and disadvantages of each. This knowledge stems from my interest in woodworking -- but the particulars of milling lumber is a sub-speciality within woodworking: I'm not sure how many woodworkers delve into this stuff.

I also know more about martial arts than most folks (I **think** more than my brother does -- although he probably has more hours logged than I do). The differences between
different styles of kung fu (Mantis, Crane, Dragon; Northern vs. Southern), different flavors of martial arts (internal vs. external; hard vs. soft), and various specific styles (Tae Kwon Do, Judo, Ju Jitsu, Aikido, Hapkido, Escrima, Capoeria...).

Plus I know about recording techniques (mostly).


I know enough about this stuff to do things -- but not enough to be on a quiz show.


--GG