What is an Expert?

"Don't ask questions you can look up" ~ Albert Einstein

I had an interesting experience on my train ride home this week from a Learning Connections gathering of educators in Toronto. I missed my train and had to catch the next train an hour later. These things happen for a reason. Beyond the fact that I read the time on the ticket incorrectly, riding the next train was an experience. Let me explain.

My window seat assignment was next to an older english gentlemen who immediately after I sat down started to begin a conversation. Well, I was tired, I'd just missed my train and I hadn't had time to get my book out just yet. Opening a book is a common signal to your seatmate that you'd rather just be by yourself. So I engaged in what I thought was small talk. Little did I know.

After a little sharing back and forth the questions usually get around to "What do you do?". I use the word "educator" because when I say teacher most folks ask, "Oh, which grade?" and I'm not in a classroom in my current assignment.

Once he knew I was a teacher, the conversation seemed to change. He started to share with me facts about history and wine making. Just facts really, not much about the people in the facts or their stories. Just the facts. It felt a little like Dragnet, "Just the facts, Ma'am." - Joe Friday.

Then came the question which began, "So, you're a teacher, you should know this."

!~~> Arggh, I dislike pop-quizzes after a long day and just because I'm a teacher. The question: "Do you know which year people could travel from Montreal to Toronto by rail?".

Well, I paused, and thought about when I had read Pierre Burton's "The Last Spike" years ago. I thought it might be in the 1850's some time. My seatmate's answer: 1855. He was thrilled that he knew the exact date.

I sat quietly for a moment and thought, I'd like to read more about that time period. So I fished for my handheld internet device and searched with the question: "What year did rail service begin from Montreal to Toronto?" And this website popped up. I scrolled down and noticed that it was actually 1856. My seatmate had been off by a year. I showed him my tiny screen and he asked, "Oh, did you get if from Google"? "The Via Rail site", I replied.

Well, the journey continued. I tried my best to weave in stories and anecdotes, you know, the stuff people mostly talk about rather than facts and figures. Then I remembered what the gentleman did for a living. He's a banker. Facts and figures are important to him.

So when I was watching Marco Torres today and he got to this topic, I made a connection. What is an expert? Well, definitions may vary. But as Marco mentions in this clip, don't ask a question you can look up, especially when facts and figures can be retrieved in a moment's notice.

Note: I marvel at the people we meet in our travels. There are so many people to meet and so little time. I enjoyed my time with my train companion this trip. But it really didn't dawn on me that I had enjoyed it until today.

The NMC video clip in this post, has a Creative Commons 2.5 License.