It’s that time of year again where everybody’s an expert. Of course, this is the NCAA basketball tournaments, women’s and men’s. Everyone thinks they know everything.
When, in fact, very few people know anything. Kind of like public policy issues, our nation’s electric grid, how to best reduce global carbon emissions, and, of course, Covid. So many people spewing their opinions…..
With the tournament, it’s no big deal. Anyone can watch a lot of basketball games on TV and pretend they know what’s happening. All you need is a mouth to voice what you think, or a bracket to fill out on the screen and you committed to what you “think.”
The beauty is that you will be wrong. Repeatedly. Just like everyone else. Wrong, wrong, wrong.
Missing one game means you automatically miss the next if you picked that team to go on. The force multiplier means your ability to score goes down with each passing round.
Everyone’s opinion on the basketball tournament is valid. One could argue that’s true of other social, policy, political and engineering issues as well, but any sane person understands that experts should be respected in those technical and complicated areas. Many people don’t want to recognize the expertise of those individuals, though, hence the NCAA tournament can fill the void where you can act like the know-it-all about basketball and puff your chest out.
Sure, we have people like Jay Bilas, Rebecca Lobo, Pam Ward Seth Davis, Clark Kellogg, Jim Spanarkel, Cheryl Miller, Dick Vitale, Fran Fraschella, Bill Raftery and so many more, who are the “supposed” experts. But, like the rest of us, they get it all wrong. Because hunches, team chemistry, luck, who’s hot and who’s not, an injury, a bad bounce all affect one game, which in turn ripples through the ensuing contests. Their picks are jettisoned, just like ours.
When it comes to the tourney, the NBA announcers – Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, et al – drop down to commentate and predict on the college game. More “non-experts” (since they typically don’t follow the college game) telling us what they think. So why shouldn’t we be just as avid about our personal views?
It’s gotten dicey in society as more and more people believe from watching TV that they have the solution to a complex societal problem, one that requires research and analysis and deep fact digging. Instead, someone plays a hunch and believes that’s the solution.
That can work in the NCAA tournament, but not in developing electric vehicle reusable refill battery packs. Can’t be playing any hunches there. We need good hard data and facts to ensure the long-term technology is most effective.
I think that somehow there’s been a blurring of the line in our public discourse on tough issues where we need to respect those who have the knowledge and wisdom to pull the levers that help us progress as a society. Instead, too many people, IMHO, take a guess, fill out their bracket sheet on the most reliable new electric grid enhancing technology, and think they know what they’re talking about.
Respect the experts, because not everybody is one. We have the NCAA tournament to rant and rave. Let it all hang out there. Enjoy it. Yell at the TV. Scream at Charles Barkley. You can get lucky with your picks, just like them.
When, in fact, very few people know anything. Kind of like public policy issues, our nation’s electric grid, how to best reduce global carbon emissions, and, of course, Covid. So many people spewing their opinions…..
With the tournament, it’s no big deal. Anyone can watch a lot of basketball games on TV and pretend they know what’s happening. All you need is a mouth to voice what you think, or a bracket to fill out on the screen and you committed to what you “think.”
The beauty is that you will be wrong. Repeatedly. Just like everyone else. Wrong, wrong, wrong.
Missing one game means you automatically miss the next if you picked that team to go on. The force multiplier means your ability to score goes down with each passing round.
Everyone’s opinion on the basketball tournament is valid. One could argue that’s true of other social, policy, political and engineering issues as well, but any sane person understands that experts should be respected in those technical and complicated areas. Many people don’t want to recognize the expertise of those individuals, though, hence the NCAA tournament can fill the void where you can act like the know-it-all about basketball and puff your chest out.
Sure, we have people like Jay Bilas, Rebecca Lobo, Pam Ward Seth Davis, Clark Kellogg, Jim Spanarkel, Cheryl Miller, Dick Vitale, Fran Fraschella, Bill Raftery and so many more, who are the “supposed” experts. But, like the rest of us, they get it all wrong. Because hunches, team chemistry, luck, who’s hot and who’s not, an injury, a bad bounce all affect one game, which in turn ripples through the ensuing contests. Their picks are jettisoned, just like ours.
When it comes to the tourney, the NBA announcers – Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, et al – drop down to commentate and predict on the college game. More “non-experts” (since they typically don’t follow the college game) telling us what they think. So why shouldn’t we be just as avid about our personal views?
It’s gotten dicey in society as more and more people believe from watching TV that they have the solution to a complex societal problem, one that requires research and analysis and deep fact digging. Instead, someone plays a hunch and believes that’s the solution.
That can work in the NCAA tournament, but not in developing electric vehicle reusable refill battery packs. Can’t be playing any hunches there. We need good hard data and facts to ensure the long-term technology is most effective.
I think that somehow there’s been a blurring of the line in our public discourse on tough issues where we need to respect those who have the knowledge and wisdom to pull the levers that help us progress as a society. Instead, too many people, IMHO, take a guess, fill out their bracket sheet on the most reliable new electric grid enhancing technology, and think they know what they’re talking about.
Respect the experts, because not everybody is one. We have the NCAA tournament to rant and rave. Let it all hang out there. Enjoy it. Yell at the TV. Scream at Charles Barkley. You can get lucky with your picks, just like them.