I’m hard-pressed to say what I’m an expert in, although I do specialize in a few things.
I have encyclopedic knowledge of The Beatles, their records (both released and the thousands of bootlegs) and how they were made, recognized enough by others who do call themselves experts that I’ve been invited to contribute to several books and websites.
If you bring me a phonograph record of any kind, if it is in reasonably good shape, I can digitally restore it to pristine condition.
Something else I picked up along the way is radio production. I don’t understand quite why I have this innate sense of production values and how to apply them, but it has always worked. I can do Drake format powerhouse 60s AM style or NPR documentary style, or anything in between.
Of course, these things are only useful in a very narrow field of endeavor that doesn’t pay much and has no 401K. But I work in it anyway, because it’s what I know and like.
Hmmph. I can speak knowledgeably in several areas, but I’ve met the experts, and I’m no expert. But I’m rarely wrong when I talk about:
Cosmetics, toiletries, and personal care products;
Pharmaceuticals, the pharm. industry, sunscreens, and the FDA;
Chemistry and physics; (with physics, it’s partly a matter of knowing my limits)
English grammar and usage;
In the first two categories, I’ve often enough been the only person with the right answer.
I also have useful, but less thorough, knowledge about: law, biology, general science, Macintosh computers, and California.
I also have somewhat-informed opinions on almost everything.
Again, guys, as noted in the OP, don’t feel like if you aren’t an expert in any field you shouldn’t post. I just want to know what you think you know best, rather than what you think you know better than others.
There are only a couple of people, even on this board, whose word I take as Gospel: Q.E.D. (including the time he called me an asshole ;)), Bricker in certain areas of the law, and GaryT on the care and maintenance of automobiles.
Definitely video games. At least console games, PC gaming more or less lost me sometime around Quake (finally got a machine capable of handling Q3A, which I’ll admit is fun–even if I do keep getting my ass kicked)
Also, I’ll minor in unusual fetishes and sexual practices (I’ll take Axillism for 400, Alex).
Hm. I’m pretty good at movies, though not on par with some folks here. Whenever someone at the office wants to identify a movie with clues like ‘it was the one with that guy…’ , they come to me.
I’d call myself an expert on comic books… and roleplaying games.
Oy, I’m such a geek.
Hm. I’m really good at math. And computer programming, especially as it relates to logic.
I like to think I have a pretty good knowledge of world football (soccer), mostly European though.
Despite my lack of education I am actually very well versed in the Icelandic language, and I daresay I am the SDMB’s definite article on that. I’ve never actually had reason to put said knowledge to any use here, but I’ve managed to squeeze it in sporadically in various threads - most probably to the annoyance of others.
It seems spooje and misstee will have to battle it out to crown the SDMB’s Chief Masturbator, who wants to oversee the contest and who will be judge?
Generally, I enjoy being a dilettante more than being an expert. I like variety. That’s the main reason why I couldn’t claim to be exceptionally knowledgeable about a specific area of literature, for example, despite being a voracious reader. For example, I’m currently reading H.H. Munro, Robert Bloch, and Sun Tzu.
Which is why I’m getting to really like this message board: a little bit of everything.
