Experts or no?

I know a fair amount of my readers have blogs of their own and this question is directed mainly at them. I have a question for those who just read this blog but don’t have one of their own.

To the blog owners/authors…

Do you consider yourself an expert?

A day or so ago I ran across a blog and one of the comments said something to the effect of “I just wanted to thank you for the expert advice you give about blah, blah, blah, blah”. I got to thinking

• How many of us are truly experts?
• Is there a certain amount of time that should pass before we declare ourselves to be experts
• Can we even call ourselves experts, or is that left up to the readers?
• If it was anywhere but blogging could you still call yourself an expert?
• How much schooling or hands on experience is necessary (on average) to become and expert?

If you are an expert how did you become one?

What processes did you go throguh to become an expert?

• Hands on learning
• Book learning
• Combination of the two
• Naturally talented
• None of the above because it’s the internet and no one will know anyhow

And now a question for those who don’t have a blog… Do you consider advise you find online (blogs or otherwise) to be expert advise in general?

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