# What is the one thing you are most knowledgable about? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 5, 2004, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-one-thing-you-are-most-knowledgable-about/263184 "2004-09-05T04:48:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-one-thing-you-are-most-knowledgable-about/263184/1 "2004-09-05T04:48:16Z")
Yup, you heard me. What one area do you have more knowledge than anything else? Not neccesarily more knowledge than everyone else, just one thing you know a shit-ton about. For me, it’s probably Futurama. It’s sad that it has to be a pop-culture area, but I really don’t have a huge knowledge base of any other specific area. I know a little about a lot, and a lot about a little. The little in this case being Futurama. ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-one-thing-you-are-most-knowledgable-about/263184/2 "2004-09-05T05:10:54Z")
I work in a museum, so, for me, care and cleaning of antiques and historical artifacts is my area of greatest knowledge. The second area in which I am most knowledgeable is Tudor England, and third on the list is _Simpson’s_ trivia. ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-one-thing-you-are-most-knowledgable-about/263184/3 "2004-09-05T05:20:11Z")
My own ignorance. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-one-thing-you-are-most-knowledgable-about/263184/4 "2004-09-05T05:30:54Z")
Star Trek; my life; the contents of my apartment; and so on. ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-one-thing-you-are-most-knowledgable-about/263184/5 "2004-09-05T06:07:23Z")
Well, the things I know best are all intertwined. Recording new sounds and restoring and preserving old ones; collecting and cataloguing records; the history of western popular music 1930s - 1980s; playing several instruments in emulation of the people who are responsible for my interest in the above. There’s a special department in my brain for The Beatles - everything they recorded (not just the CDs at the store), when, where, how, oddities, and where to find an example of each. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-one-thing-you-are-most-knowledgable-about/263184/6 "2004-09-05T06:35:25Z")
Real estate valuation - I’ll usually be able to accurately calculate the real world selling price of local commercial real estate within 3-5 %. I’m good enough at it that local appraisers will often call me to double check on their commercial real estate valuations before sending to the client. Older PCs. I can usually make a reasonably accurate guess re what’s inside an older PC by looking at the case and the ports on the back. ---
**Author:** ![Darwins\_Finch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darwins_finch/32/20304_2.png) [@Darwins\_Finch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darwins_Finch)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-one-thing-you-are-most-knowledgable-about/263184/7 "2004-09-05T06:56:24Z")
Dinosaurs. I don’t know enough to be classified as anything resembling an “expert”, but I think I know more than the Average Joe (or even Average Joe Jr.). ---
**Author:** ![iampunha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/74df32/32.png) [@iampunha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iampunha)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-one-thing-you-are-most-knowledgable-about/263184/8 "2004-09-05T07:01:20Z")
As useful as your knowledge area, **bouv** , is mine. After (reasonable estimate) 100,000+ hours of magicfinding in D2XP, and many many more of general gameplay, I can tell you over 95% of the time what a particular set or unique piece is without identifying it, as well as any important or useful mod it happens to have, what variability there is within the piece’s spawn, etc. I’m also getting good at identifying properties of rare and magic items based on their appearance pre-ID. I have something of a catalog reference in my brain of various builds, skill and stat allocations, ideal gear and so on. Before 1.10 came along I could tell you every rune in every runeword, and I could still probably do the runes in order in addition to requirements to transmute them. I could probably name all the waypoints in the game, if not all the lands (save those minor ones with a red portal leading to them). NPCs by act, by quest, etc. The really pathetic thing is that I’m sure there’s more I don’t remember right now because it seems like the sort of thing everybody knows (I’m aware of how silly this seems to everyone else). ---
**Author:** ![kimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f0a364/32.png) [@kimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kimera)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-one-thing-you-are-most-knowledgable-about/263184/9 "2004-09-05T07:26:17Z")
How to get myself off. ---
**Author:** ![Roland\_Orzabal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c2a13f/32.png) [@Roland\_Orzabal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roland_Orzabal)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-one-thing-you-are-most-knowledgable-about/263184/10 "2004-09-05T07:49:57Z")
Now that I think about it, it’s most likely Tears For Fears. I’ve always been a general-knowledge type of guy; I know a little about a whole lot. I’m fairly well-versed in computers, math, and other forms of geekery (I’m a rehabilitating Trekkie, for example). But TFF is probably the only thing of which I’ve ever devoted the energy to research the entire history and canon. Unless Mr. Orzabal has a song or two up his sleeve that he hasn’t told anyone else about, I know every Tears For Fears song ever made, lyrics, individual instrumental parts and all (except for Elemental (Edit), which I can’t freaking _find_, because too many idiots have messed-up versions of Elemental that they’ve labeled “Elemental (Edit)” thereby clogging up all attempts to _search_…but don’t get me started 😃 ). So, TFF it is. Any questions? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![mike1dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@mike1dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mike1dog)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-one-thing-you-are-most-knowledgable-about/263184/11 "2004-09-05T07:58:30Z")
I can tell you the Ford basic part number for any part on a car. ---
**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-one-thing-you-are-most-knowledgable-about/263184/12 "2004-09-05T07:58:31Z")
Computers and history. I’m certainly not a grandmaster at either like some of the other Dopers around, but I do have a Bachelor’s in Computer Science and a pretty good broad overview of world history. ---
**Author:** ![Necro\_Romancer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/50afbb/32.png) [@Necro\_Romancer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Necro_Romancer)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-one-thing-you-are-most-knowledgable-about/263184/13 "2004-09-05T08:00:37Z")
Oddly enough, [Bad Religion](http://www.badreligion.com/home/). ---
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-one-thing-you-are-most-knowledgable-about/263184/14 "2004-09-05T08:12:32Z")
The history of [Wonder Woman](http://www.wonderwoman-online.com) and her creator, Dr. William Moulton Marston. ---
**Author:** ![Mbossa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@Mbossa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mbossa)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-one-thing-you-are-most-knowledgable-about/263184/15 "2004-09-05T08:26:36Z")
Haskell. “What the _hell_ is this ‘Haskell’ thing when it’s at home, **Mbossa**?”. Well, it’s a computer programming language unlike any other. It’s a purely functional language, which means functions _never_ have any side effects. Most programmers who get a taste of Haskell think, “Hehe, it’s a cute language. But I’d never actually want to _program_ in it. Especially with that confusing IO system.” But I invested a lot of time (probably too much time) into learning it properly, and now I can program in Haskell better than I can in any other language. Now I’m just hanging out for someone to post a GQ asking what on earth a monad is, or how to convert an IO String into a String. My second big knowledge area is in the Philosophy of Mathematics. Unlike Haskell, [a question has been asked](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=273663) related to this. Unfortunately, I read the thread a bit too late, and now I don’t have anything to say that hasn’t already been said. ---
**Author:** ![seosamh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@seosamh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seosamh)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-one-thing-you-are-most-knowledgable-about/263184/16 "2004-09-05T10:32:18Z")
Railway closures under sections 37 to 50 of the Railways Act 1993, as amended by the Transport Act 2000. In Great Britain, that is. So why did they make me redundant?? ---
**Author:** ![LifeOnWry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@LifeOnWry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeOnWry)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-one-thing-you-are-most-knowledgable-about/263184/17 "2004-09-05T12:50:19Z")
Polymer clay. It’s been my primary art medium for over ten years. It’s been used by dollmakers for almost 40 years, but it was little-known outside that specialty until the early 1990s. In '93, I started fooling around with some to make my own beads, and I became addicted - but there was very little info out there about it, so I had to explore its properties on my own. As the material gained in popularity, I became one of a small group of pioneers in the field. I’m partially responsible for at least three commercial innovations related to the medium. I’m done patting myself on the back now. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Thrashbarg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Thrashbarg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thrashbarg)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-one-thing-you-are-most-knowledgable-about/263184/18 "2004-09-05T18:06:10Z")
For me, It’d be the ins and outs of Native American casino marketing/advertising (small/medium ones in rural areas). I also like to think I rank right up there in Metallica trivia. As an aside, I’ve learned that the quickest way to humble yourself (especially here) is to proclaim yourself an expert on anything! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Katisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bcef8e/32.png) [@Katisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katisha)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-one-thing-you-are-most-knowledgable-about/263184/19 "2004-09-05T18:18:41Z")
Shakespeare. And I can probably still hold my own in _Star Trek_ trivia, although not as well as I used to… ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-one-thing-you-are-most-knowledgable-about/263184/20 "2004-09-05T18:23:26Z")
I’m more of a General Studies kinda guy, but I think my practical knowledge of homebrewing is excellent. If it can be fermented, I’ve done it more than a few times. Got the awards to back it up, too! 😃 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-one-thing-you-are-most-knowledgable-about/263184.md?page=2)