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August 15, 2006
A Moment for Full Disclosure
I've been worrying a little. I'm worrying about you, my dear readers. And I'm worrying about a possible error you may make if you haven't read the few words I once wrote about myself.
Simply put. I am an amateur in nearly every area that I discuss here on Abnormal Interests. I am a professional marketeer of technology by trade. So, while I seldom discuss such things, when I address marketing issues I do so from the perspective of a professional. But, I am not an expert or a professional in the Hebrew Bible; nor am I an Ugaritologist or an Assyriologist or an archeologist or a paleoanthropologist. I am certainly not a biologist. Compared to a professional student of Mark Twain, my knowledge is miniscule. My opinions on curremt events are often pulled out of my ear without being at all encumbered by facts, knowledge or experience.
I am not reminding you of this to gain a license to be irresponsible; nor am I asking you to ignore what I have to say. But I don't want the occasional trappings of scholarship and the formal nature of some of my posts to lead anyone to think that I am something other than what I am.
I do think I have things of importance to say about some of my abnormal interests. And I believe that amateurs may have useful insight and prospective that professionals sometimes lack.
In a few areas, I have resurrected and built upon an incomplete formal education now several decades old. In other areas, I have worked hard to learn the basics. I do try to be accurate within the scope of my knowledge and ability. I no doubt make mistakes. Perhaps the most frequent mistakes are errors of omission; failures to know or properly understand evidence or ideas that I should have taken into account. When you see an error, or what you think is an error, I want to know about it. While I am an amateur, I do want to be as good a student as I can be.
So, when you read my musings be careful. If they stimulate you to explore something that I have said on your own, great! If you take my word as definitive, beware!
Posted by Duane Smith at August 15, 2006 8:35 PM | Read more on Odds and Ends |
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Comments
Duane, you don’t have to worry. As far as I can tell, Jim West is the only one who has his undies in a bunch over we dilettantes. I think you do a fine job especially in the areas of Ugarit and Akkadian. Keep up the good work.
Best Wishes
Joe
Posted by: Joe Cathey at August 16, 2006 6:21 AM
In short you are a scholar and a gentleman,* rather than being aq mercenary scholar, or a scholar for hire. True scholarship is not measured by $$$ in the eyes, and it is only the need to quantify for purposes of promotion and more dollars that suggests a hierachy of scholarship.
______________________________
* There used to be an English cricket match at the MCC (the home of cricket) "Gentlemen vs. Players" in which the country's best professionals (players) competed with the best amateurs (gentlemen). Once upon a time in the days before professionalism in sport, and advances in pharmacological technology, the result was no foregone conclusion!
Posted by: tim bulkeley at August 16, 2006 12:26 PM
Don't worry, we don't take seriously anything abnormal you write.
Posted by: Aydin at August 17, 2006 11:55 AM
Sorry, comments are closed for this post.
Send me an email if it is important.