The Little World

People in the arts, sciences, and humanities will all have encountered the scholarly author or researcher – who will vastly overbear anything the average enthusiast can bring to a discussion.

The scholars will have read, experimented, thought, or created their way to eminence in their respective fields and very likely have published and publicized all along. They will have listed footnotes and bibliographies, and they will be accurate.

Now step over to the cement-scarred scale model club bench and pick up a piece of plastic. The scholarly expert will be along directly to tell you that you have it by the wrong end. That the kit you have is inaccurate, and that you are wasting your time. They will take up a considerable amount of that telling you…

They know, you know. They have [ THE KNOWLEDGE ]. ( I won’t do that again – it takes too many fingers to type. Let’s just shorten it the TK. Say it reverently. )

They have read a book on the subject, or seen an example of it in a museum, or been told by another expert, and the experiences have combined to generate a nugget of TK. It will be pressed upon you in an effort to burn you, and if they have the sort of voice that most experts do, it will indeed burn.

Had they been aboard an SBD at Midway, their advice about the shade of blue would be invaluable. Likewise their experience at the Battle of Gettysburg would be worth hearing. Their pronouncements about these facts having come from the same library you draw from – and the same motion pictures – means that you can draw your own conclusions before they draw breath.

Do not reject the person who saw and did, but beware the one who listened, read, or studied their history with a tub of popcorn and a choc bomb.