I was having a conversation with my brother the other day that meandered through different discrete topics concerning computer security; security in the sense of protecting your computer from data loss.
Obviously, this is part of what he does for work and I would expect that he would know the field better than I would, but it’s still frustrating that I had really no knowledge in the field. I decided that it might be better to take up pottery, since at least with a bit of practice I would know it better than him and then wouldn’t sound so stupid in our converstaions, at least if we were talking about pottery.
Though wouldn’t it be neat to have extensive knowledge of a single specific topic? Such complete knowledge that people seek you out for advice or training on the topic would be pretty neat. I mean, I’m sick of the idea that someone out there knows more than me - allow me to pick one topic and be the person that knows more than everyone else.
How would I choose a topic, and how would I learn everything there is to know about it?
Well, I’m not sure pottery is the best way to go. Pottery has been around for ages, and there are probably tribes of jungle people with primitive kilns that would know more about pottery just by having their genetic makeup than I would ever learn by study. So that’s probably not the best topic.
I guess I’m looking for something newer, so that there aren’t entire cultures of people who have subsisted on the idea. Like, “cooking” is probably out. And at the same time, I think anything really technological will we difficult to amass knowledge in.
There’s the unlikely issue, really- Is there a topic that is easy to master that not so many people have mastered already, such that you could become the premier expert in that field?
Juggling seems unlikely. Have you seen the YouTube videos? So much for mastering that.
Seems I’m a bit late for Ninja training, though possibly not too late to learn a bit more about spycraft.
Bah.
Maybe it’s enough to be the expert in my own circles (whatever those happen to be), and to that extent maybe pottery is ok. Maybe I should pick a topic that nobody I know knows, and then I’ll be the expert amongst my peers. I wonder if that would satisfy me.
Ah well, rumination on this is tedious. Unless I actually choose a topic to master and report on my progress, it’s not worthwhile to discuss it beyond the abstract, “I think it would be nice to be well-known for something.”
Any ideas about what I could become good at? I think I’m just going to pick something and start researching.
