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Atticus

(15,124 posts)
Thu Jan 27, 2022, 03:01 PM Jan 2022

It's been said that "if everything is important, nothing is important". I propose a corollary.

"If everyone is a ___________, no one is a _____________."

Those blanks can be filled in with all sorts of professions that used to be understood to require a special education or talent---"scientist", "doctor", "epidemiologist", "educator", "attorney", "pharmacist", "historian"---- you get the idea.

Nowadays, any high school dropout with internet access is, according to millions of those we daily walk among, just as qualified to diagnose and treat any type of illness, prescribe substances ranging from urine to horse wormer for preventing or curing covid, interpret the US Constitution or give legal advice as all those "elite educated" people we used to think were the authorities in those "professional" fields.

Personally, I want people who have the appropriate education, training and experience to use their expertise in their specialized field. I don't want a mechanic removing my appendix and I don't want a surgeon working on my car's brakes. And, call me "picky", but I don't want anyone performing either of those services for me if their only claim to competence is "I researched this on the internet."

I'm so old I remember when that was called "common sense".

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It's been said that "if everything is important, nothing is important". I propose a corollary. (Original Post) Atticus Jan 2022 OP
Same here. niyad Jan 2022 #1
I think Timewas Jan 2022 #2
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