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At what point would you start asking questions then? Because questioning anyone about their work is us asking for them to show us how they are right. That is qu

by talmand 10y ago

At what point would you start asking questions then? Because questioning anyone about their work is us asking for them to show us how they are right. That is questioning their competency on the topic at hand instead of just accepting what they say at face value. I won't apologize for requesting someone to show me how they are right about a topic I know little or nothing about because the simple fact that I know little or nothing of the topic doesn't let me understand they know what they are talking about. Lots of experts get things wrong all the time. If we just accept the results of experts without questioning then how do we know they are wrong? Wait for another expert to take notice and bother to care to check?

nzjrs 10y ago
Give us an example of something you are an expert in, and we can submit our most shallow tedious questions. It should be fun!
- talmand 10y ago
  I get them every day already. I, for one, am not offended by it. EDIT: actually, I'm exaggerating here. I don't get them every day literally, but I encounter them quite a bit.
mikeash 10y ago
Start asking questions right away. Just do it from a perspective of "I don't understand this" rather than "you didn't think of this." I am not saying that experts are infallible or that we should consider them as such. I'm just saying that when you've spent five minutes coming up with a problem in a scientific paper that has years of work behind it, your quest for information should reflect the likely possibility that the wrongness is on your end. Edit: note that there is no question in the original post I object to. I'm definitely not criticizing questions. If anything, I'm criticizing not asking questions.
- talmand 10y ago
  Then it would seem we are likely saying much the same thing in a different way. I apologize for my confusion.
  - mikeash 10y ago
    No problem, I'm sure I could have been more clear. Glad to settle into agreement!
richmarr 10y ago
> At what point would you start asking questions then? mikeash has already answered that. He's fine with questions. You're arguing against a straw man of blind obedience to authority figures that (as far as I can see) nobody has made.

by talmand 10y ago

nzjrs 10y ago

Give us an example of something you are an expert in, and we can submit our most shallow tedious questions. It should be fun!

talmand 10y ago
I get them every day already. I, for one, am not offended by it. EDIT: actually, I'm exaggerating here. I don't get them every day literally, but I encounter them quite a bit.

mikeash 10y ago

Start asking questions right away. Just do it from a perspective of "I don't understand this" rather than "you didn't think of this." I am not saying that experts are infallible or that we should consider them as such. I'm just saying that when you've spent five minutes coming up with a problem in a scientific paper that has years of work behind it, your quest for information should reflect the likely possibility that the wrongness is on your end. Edit: note that there is no question in the original post I object to. I'm definitely not criticizing questions. If anything, I'm criticizing not asking questions.

talmand 10y ago
Then it would seem we are likely saying much the same thing in a different way. I apologize for my confusion.
- mikeash 10y ago
  No problem, I'm sure I could have been more clear. Glad to settle into agreement!

richmarr 10y ago

> At what point would you start asking questions then? mikeash has already answered that. He's fine with questions. You're arguing against a straw man of blind obedience to authority figures that (as far as I can see) nobody has made.