# What's your area of expertise? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 9, 2007, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-area-of-expertise/403453 "2007-05-09T21:32:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Subterraneanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Subterraneanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Subterraneanus)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-area-of-expertise/403453/41 "2007-05-10T05:00:41Z")
I think my criteria for expertise are probably too narrow, so I’ll broaden them and my answer. _Philosophy_: AOS: 18th and 19th century European philosophy, phenomenology, philosophy of logic; AOC: ancient philosophy, modern philosophy, philosophy of mind _Humanities_ in the Western tradition _Musicology and music theory_ _Music performance_: Guitar, mandolin, banjo, and ukulele in the following styles: country blues, electric blues, folk, country, bluegrass, jazz, traditional Irish, Hawaiian slack-key, and rock _Soccer_: History and playing _Baseball_: History and playing _Backpacking and backwoods skills_ ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-area-of-expertise/403453/42 "2007-05-10T05:32:09Z")
2nd half 20th century pop music, from reading Rolling Stone for 30 years. 1st half 20th century pop music from diligent listening and study. Birds, just past entry level. A fair amount of classical music stuff. Guitars: I tried to learn how to play until the factory gave me tendinitis. I read Guitar Player for 6 years. It doesn’t sound like much, does it? Gardening, flower and vegetable. I’ve been growing stuff for 33 years, and I had a scrip to Organic Gardening for 10 years. OG sorta repeats itself after about 6 years. My skull is a storehouse of completely useless information, just the sort of thing you might want to know. “Such as what?” you ask. Well, just you wait. The Boer War. Nope. Forget it. Ask somebody else. It’s just too painful. I can’t talk about it. ---
**Author:** ![Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/c4cdca/32.png) [@Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quiddity_Glomfuster)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-area-of-expertise/403453/43 "2007-05-10T06:00:45Z")
[QUOTE=Indistinguishable] There may not all that many people on the board with much interest in epistemology, but there are some of us about. [/QUOTE] Not to mention metaethics. ---
**Author:** ![Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sophistry_and_Illusion)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-area-of-expertise/403453/44 "2007-05-10T06:29:53Z")
[QUOTE=Subterraneanus] Well, I’m a philosophy professor, so … [/QUOTE] That makes two of us. I’ve often wondered how many there are on the SDMB. Several people around here (e.g., \*\*Indistinguishable \*\* and others) seem to know a hell of a lot of philosophy. There aren’t that many boards around where you can stumble upon an informed discussion of S5. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-area-of-expertise/403453/45 "2007-05-10T06:51:22Z")
Geology and oil rigs. Also antique carpets. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-area-of-expertise/403453/46 "2007-05-10T09:52:43Z")
Spanish. There’s lots of other stuff I’ll happily answer about, but with disclaimers; I try to separate what I “know”, “believe”, “think” and “guess”. Never had any questions in GQ about my professional area of expertise, but that makes sense since it’s a very weird one. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-area-of-expertise/403453/47 "2007-05-10T10:00:37Z")
[QUOTE=Nava] Never had any questions in GQ about my professional area of expertise, but that makes sense since it’s a very weird one. [/QUOTE] Awww, you can’t leave it at that. It’s _cruel_. Come on, spill the beans. What’s your professional area of expertise? ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-area-of-expertise/403453/48 "2007-05-10T10:16:11Z")
[QUOTE=Qadgop the Mercotan] I used to do a mean episiotomy repair… [/QUOTE] And now you work with guys who’ve stitched up loads of cunts in their time. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 10:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-area-of-expertise/403453/49 "2007-05-10T10:30:44Z")
\ Oh, you know, a little bit of this, a little bit of that… \ I don’t have a specific area of expertise. I don’t even have a coherent and constant set of interests. ---
**Author:** ![bbs2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e495f1/32.png) [@bbs2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bbs2k)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-area-of-expertise/403453/50 "2007-05-10T11:02:13Z")
Laboratory testing + results. ---
**Author:** ![wevets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9a140/32.png) [@wevets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wevets)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-area-of-expertise/403453/51 "2007-05-10T14:20:39Z")
[QUOTE=August West] Palynology - the study of fossil pollen to recreate past atmospheres and vegetation. [/QUOTE] Damn! I was really excited to think we had a palynologist on the boards. I like answering questions related to biology, especially marine biology and ecology. I’ll occasionally answer history questions, general science, sometimes things related to emergency medical care (but not medical advice!), science fiction and comic books ---
**Author:** ![Caricci](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85f322/32.png) [@Caricci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caricci)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-area-of-expertise/403453/52 "2007-05-10T14:29:33Z")
Tudor England. A certain New England art school. ---
**Author:** ![Wallenstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5a626/32.png) [@Wallenstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallenstein)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-area-of-expertise/403453/53 "2007-05-10T14:30:31Z")
The female orgasm (creation of). 😉 Apart from that: - UK techno 1990-1994 - 18th century German political drama (esp. Friedrich Schiller) Although I’m not “expert”, more passionate about it. I guess I’m like many people on SDMB in knowing a reasonable amount about a whole lotta different stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-area-of-expertise/403453/54 "2007-05-10T14:36:17Z")
Real Estate Property Management Government Musical theatre, esp. Andrew Lloyd Webber ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-area-of-expertise/403453/55 "2007-05-10T14:37:08Z")
Public broadcasting; Kentucky history, geography and culture. ---
**Author:** ![scareyfaerie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scareyfaerie/32/3135_2.png) [@scareyfaerie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scareyfaerie)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-area-of-expertise/403453/56 "2007-05-10T14:37:55Z")
Dustbunnies. ---
**Author:** ![ErinPuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dbc845/32.png) [@ErinPuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ErinPuff)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-area-of-expertise/403453/57 "2007-05-10T14:39:31Z")
Music theory and history. ---
**Author:** ![Ferd\_Burfel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecccb3/32.png) [@Ferd\_Burfel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferd_Burfel)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-area-of-expertise/403453/58 "2007-05-10T14:49:02Z")
Broadcasting Local TV news production Electronic News Gathering (ENG) ---
**Author:** ![nashiitashii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7c8e57/32.png) [@nashiitashii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nashiitashii)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-area-of-expertise/403453/59 "2007-05-10T14:50:23Z")
I seem to be a jack of many interests, and I wouldn’t consider myself an expert on any of them. I just happen to know a lot of little tidbits and I’m reasonably good at breaking things down in analysis. I’m familiar with cultural anthropology and what little tidbits of other areas of anthropology I covered in classes, and I’m reasonably good with what bit of museum studies I’ve had, but that doesn’t help much. I like language, am interested in lots of areas of history (though am by no means any more than a novice in any area), and do some crafty stuff on my own. I can, however, research the hell out of things to give a reasonable answer. Got a guinea pig? I can tell you what you’re going to need to make 'em happy and what foods are good for daily produce, which ones are once or twice weekly, and which ones to avoid altogether. I can’t necessarily troubleshoot cavy illnesses, though. ---
**Author:** ![Sock\_of\_Doom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/71c47a/32.png) [@Sock\_of\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sock_of_Doom)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-area-of-expertise/403453/60 "2007-05-10T17:01:23Z")
Chemistry Domestic violence and sexual assault counseling (Been doing them both for about the same time. Kinda odd, now that I think about it) Random useless trivia [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-area-of-expertise/403453.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-area-of-expertise/403453.md?page=4)