I spend most of my time in GQ, it is always the first forum I check, and if I don’t have much time to spend on the SDMB I always look at GQ first and foremost. I’ve noticed we have a lot of experts on different fields on this board, and I was wondering what fields people think they are experts (or at least knowledgeable enough to answer) on. So, what do you think you know enough about to answer a question on, and what is your background?
For myself, I am currently in Pharmacy School, so I feel confident enough to answer questions having to do with drugs, and also many biology questions. I also have a background in computers (mainly hardware), so will answer those questions if no one else has answered better by the time I see it…
So… What types of questions will you answer in GQ? And Why?
Systems analysis, behavioral neuroscience, Louisiana culture, aviation, and antique New England houses. It is just a mix of academic, professional, hobbies, and life experience. I answer a lot of other stuff as well just because I have been participating here for over 9 years and I know what the real experts have responded with before and I know where to find the answers. The same questions tend to cycle.
Also Macintosh, MacOS, with an emphasis on older stuff (lots of folks know the modern Unix MacOS better than I do) dating back to the old floppy-based systems before Macs had hard drives.
A lot of what I shoot my mouth off about is opinion and perspective rather than knowledge, but I’m decently well versed in feminist theory as academic subject matter, although my knowledge base is increasingly out of date.
Optical stuff. I’m ABO certified, and have 20 years in the business. I’ve spent the last 7 years as a “contact lens teacher” for new wearers. I love what I do. I will never earn enough money to retire. I can usually find an eyeglass frame for a patient within 5 tries.
I also make and repair jewelry as a hobby, and I’m not bad at that.
ISO 9001. Certified and full item Lead Auditor for many years. We don’t get a lot of questions about that, but I’ve been helpful once or twice.
I’m counting “Expert” as being something in which one would be considered an actual trained, professional authority, not just something that’s a hobby you know a fair amount about.
Popular music history and performance, & traditional and jazz theory. Especially in acoustic folk instrumentation (i play and teach flatpick and fingerpick guitar, bluegrass and celtic mandolin and banjo) as well as electric guitar, piano and bass (electric & upright).
I teach most styles of popular music - rock, blues, country, jazz, bluegrass and folk, as well as songwriting, arranging and production. Some pedagogy too, not that there’s a great call for it…
I have a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering, and I do advanced powertrain research for a living. I am also an inveterate tinkerer; I do all my own car/motorcycle maintenance and home repairs. I enjoy playing with power tools and fiddling around in a machine shop. I am well-versed in matters of physics and general science. I’ve enjoyed the recent GQ questions on rocketry, boiling water, temperature-vs-altitude, and that sort of thing; keep ‘em comin’.
Not a lot. Most of the time whenever I answer a GQ, I think someone way more knowledgable than me will have already answered by the time I click send. I am often surprised when that hasn’t happened.
The ones I have most success with are those that require a multi-level Google search to reach the answer, so perhaps I’m an expert at using Google.
The only GQ, CS, or IMHO threads where I’ve felt like the most informed person in the thread were ones asking about popular songs that are waltzes. I’m not an expert, but I have an on-going project identifying them for a group of friends who enjoy waltzes.
I’m not an expert, but I can answer most laymans’ questions about theatrical lighting, scenic design, and rigging. And I have a pretty good memory for the useless things I dig up on Wikipedia, so there are lots of very specific, very diverse topics where I can at least comment.
Natural History in general. Professionally a Ph.D. ornithologist, but with an interest in zoology, botany, geology, paleontology, anthropology, archaeology, and astronomy. History and geography, on the basis of interest and extensive readuing, especially the history of discovery and exploration, in particular the early European exploration of the New World.
I’m a history student with a focus on Hellenic Greece, but I often don’t feel confident enough to definitely answer. Its a ‘the more you know, the more you don’t know’ kind of thing. I usually can answer general history questions, especially about the US, thanks to having great teachers and professors, but there’s a certain foolish confidence and I know that a real expert could fight my ignorance. I closely follow politics and have a layman’s understanding of the economy.
My true expertise, though, is in gaming. RPGs especially (video games and tabletop), but strategic/tactical games too. Strangely enough, GQ never has questions on those.
Like most ED physicians, jack of all trades; master of none.
ADD along with a love for reading and travel, and an attic for a memory means I might know any given obscure thing spot on and be utterly useless around something that is common knowledge to the rest of the world.
