I think there needs to be a clearly defined difference here between professionals and experts. You can be a professional in the field, but until you understand

I think there needs to be a clearly defined difference here between professionals and experts. You can be a professional in the field, but until you understand all the layers of abstraction, you aren't an expert. You can't diagnose those deep problems and fix them. Professionals are paid to work in an area, and are thought to know enough not to be horribly dangerous. Experts, on the other hand, are supposed to understand and have some competence in all the layers of complexity/abstraction present. It can take decades to reach expert status in a given area. A few weeks ago I had occasion to talk with a working computer security professional, and asked him about data diodes[1], and often they are used... he'd never heard of them. Often here on HN, I make comments about capability based security[2], and everyone mistakes it for the permissions flags on smartphones. This tells me there aren't many experts in the field of computer security. The same is true in other fields, you can be a CNC machinist, but until you know about the Whitworth 3 plate method[3], you're not an expert. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unidirectional_network https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unidirectional_network [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capability-based_security https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capability-based_security [3] https://www.wadeodesign.com/flatness-3-plate-method.html https://www.wadeodesign.com/flatness-3-plate-method.html