4 ms·

It's curious that when the memetically-preferred version of this story is told, it's always the person in power who is revealed to lack expertise and the person

by ethbr0 5y ago

It's curious that when the memetically-preferred version of this story is told, it's always the person in power who is revealed to lack expertise and the person without power who has hidden, superior expertise. There never seem to be versions of this story shared where, to use the link's example, the movie manager turns out to be a semi-retired audio engineer. But statistically, surely that happens at least equally?

thatguy0900 5y ago
I don't think it matters which is more likely to happen because almost always these stories are considered apocryphal, like this one is mentioned as being by another comment, which is a nice way of saying probably made up
afiori 5y ago
That version exists in two forms: subordinate complaning about or bad mouthing a colleague or a colleague's work before discovering that they are are actually criticizing the boss they are talking to or someone of higher rank (boss' spouse, boss' boss); or the analogous of a child teaching their pokemon expert parents to play pokemon
- ethbr0 5y ago
  Good example! Forgot about that one. I guess that's a bit more of hidden identity than expertise though.
jayd16 5y ago
If the movie manager was a retired audio engineer, wouldn't the sound be correct? How would the story fit?
- ethbr0 5y ago
  Per the article, an example would be if the movie were incorrectly mastered (overly loud or quiet) and therefore the movie manager took it upon themselves to correct for that via theater settings.
enobrev 5y ago
The manager would be the one telling the story, with the patron being the confidently-incorrect character in said story. Meme-wise, the "loser" of the exchange doesn't go on the recite the story. Then again, I love to tell my friends stories about the times I was the idiot. But I generally don't announce them to the universe.
AlbertCory 5y ago
The story is not about "power" vs. "powerless." I know that's how people like to analyze everything these days, but this ain't it. It's about "smug and arrogant and thinks he knows" vs. "really does know." That's why it's an evergreen. A favorite example is in Annie Hall where a smug guy is explaining Marshall McLuhan to his date, and Woody drags out the real McLuhan to tell the guy he's full of it.
- ethbr0 5y ago
  If it were about "smug and arrogant and thinks he knows" vs. "really does know", then wouldn't we see the more senior person equally in both roles? I'm noting that hasn't been my experience. How many times have you heard it told of the form "The senior architect made a statement about transaction locking, with which the junior engineer disagreed and cited ACID properties. It turned out the senior architect was Jim Gray."? Granted, it's a terrible story, which is why it probably doesn't get told. Because you would have expected Jim Gray to be more knowledgeable about the topic. I guess it just irked me, because the anecdotes always feel curiously similar.
  - brokenmachine 5y ago
    Because it's not surprising if the more senior one knows - there's an expectation that they should know more than the less senior person. So it's not an interesting anecdote the other way around.
    - AlbertCory 5y ago
      It's kind of "dog bites man." Anyhow, the Annie Hall bit doesn't hinge on any senior-junior relationship.
  - Alan_Dillman 5y ago
    >I'm noting that hasn't been my experience. I think you are just overlooking something so common and in your face that it seems invisible. In terms of retail/services, it's a 'customers are idiots' story, and they abound. An automotive example is "I need a 710 cap". In computer troubleshooting, the PEBKAC, PICNIC, and ID10T stories. The BOFH stories might not be real, but they scratch an itch real people encounter. the BODY mangles people both up and down the chain of authority. Vast swathes of industries have internal "Junior/contractors doesn't know how to think". On a drilling rig, a new hand will be sent to get the key to the vee door.Or a bucket of steam. Or in other industries, maybe a left-handed screwdriver or some such. In military, there are lots of real stories of drill sergeants making recruits feel foolish, and you can be sure they laugh about it over coffee with each other. There's the SR71 airspeed story. And pilots get their callsigns from doing something stupid, normally. No there's lots of stories where the expert comes out on top. Perhaps as many as "senior is an idiot"
thaumasiotes 5y ago
> There never seem to be versions of this story shared where, to use the link's example, the movie manager turns out to be a semi-retired audio engineer. > But statistically, surely that happens at least equally? You think theater owners are statistically at least as likely to hold a non-theater-owner job as audience members of no specified profession are?
- ethbr0 5y ago
  Why not? I met a sound engineer who'd worked most large venues in the US, and for pretty much every 80s rock group on tour... as my Uber driver from the Indianapolis airport. It was his retirement gig. Owning a theater seems fun, if you were in the film-making industry for your career. (And if you were curious, because of course I asked: Apparently indoor sports stadiums are the absolute worst for concert acoustics. At least with open stadiums it gets rid of some of the echo, and they can work their magic to pad out the space.)

by ethbr0 5y ago

thatguy0900 5y ago

I don't think it matters which is more likely to happen because almost always these stories are considered apocryphal, like this one is mentioned as being by another comment, which is a nice way of saying probably made up

afiori 5y ago

That version exists in two forms: subordinate complaning about or bad mouthing a colleague or a colleague's work before discovering that they are are actually criticizing the boss they are talking to or someone of higher rank (boss' spouse, boss' boss); or the analogous of a child teaching their pokemon expert parents to play pokemon

ethbr0 5y ago
Good example! Forgot about that one. I guess that's a bit more of hidden identity than expertise though.

jayd16 5y ago

If the movie manager was a retired audio engineer, wouldn't the sound be correct? How would the story fit?

ethbr0 5y ago
Per the article, an example would be if the movie were incorrectly mastered (overly loud or quiet) and therefore the movie manager took it upon themselves to correct for that via theater settings.

enobrev 5y ago

The manager would be the one telling the story, with the patron being the confidently-incorrect character in said story. Meme-wise, the "loser" of the exchange doesn't go on the recite the story. Then again, I love to tell my friends stories about the times I was the idiot. But I generally don't announce them to the universe.

AlbertCory 5y ago

The story is not about "power" vs. "powerless." I know that's how people like to analyze everything these days, but this ain't it. It's about "smug and arrogant and thinks he knows" vs. "really does know." That's why it's an evergreen. A favorite example is in Annie Hall where a smug guy is explaining Marshall McLuhan to his date, and Woody drags out the real McLuhan to tell the guy he's full of it.

ethbr0 5y ago
If it were about "smug and arrogant and thinks he knows" vs. "really does know", then wouldn't we see the more senior person equally in both roles? I'm noting that hasn't been my experience. How many times have you heard it told of the form "The senior architect made a statement about transaction locking, with which the junior engineer disagreed and cited ACID properties. It turned out the senior architect was Jim Gray."? Granted, it's a terrible story, which is why it probably doesn't get told. Because you would have expected Jim Gray to be more knowledgeable about the topic. I guess it just irked me, because the anecdotes always feel curiously similar.
- brokenmachine 5y ago
  Because it's not surprising if the more senior one knows - there's an expectation that they should know more than the less senior person. So it's not an interesting anecdote the other way around.
  - AlbertCory 5y ago
    It's kind of "dog bites man." Anyhow, the Annie Hall bit doesn't hinge on any senior-junior relationship.
- Alan_Dillman 5y ago
  >I'm noting that hasn't been my experience. I think you are just overlooking something so common and in your face that it seems invisible. In terms of retail/services, it's a 'customers are idiots' story, and they abound. An automotive example is "I need a 710 cap". In computer troubleshooting, the PEBKAC, PICNIC, and ID10T stories. The BOFH stories might not be real, but they scratch an itch real people encounter. the BODY mangles people both up and down the chain of authority. Vast swathes of industries have internal "Junior/contractors doesn't know how to think". On a drilling rig, a new hand will be sent to get the key to the vee door.Or a bucket of steam. Or in other industries, maybe a left-handed screwdriver or some such. In military, there are lots of real stories of drill sergeants making recruits feel foolish, and you can be sure they laugh about it over coffee with each other. There's the SR71 airspeed story. And pilots get their callsigns from doing something stupid, normally. No there's lots of stories where the expert comes out on top. Perhaps as many as "senior is an idiot"

thaumasiotes 5y ago

> There never seem to be versions of this story shared where, to use the link's example, the movie manager turns out to be a semi-retired audio engineer. > But statistically, surely that happens at least equally? You think theater owners are statistically at least as likely to hold a non-theater-owner job as audience members of no specified profession are?

ethbr0 5y ago
Why not? I met a sound engineer who'd worked most large venues in the US, and for pretty much every 80s rock group on tour... as my Uber driver from the Indianapolis airport. It was his retirement gig. Owning a theater seems fun, if you were in the film-making industry for your career. (And if you were curious, because of course I asked: Apparently indoor sports stadiums are the absolute worst for concert acoustics. At least with open stadiums it gets rid of some of the echo, and they can work their magic to pad out the space.)