This morning I talked to somebody that I work with about the whole expertise thing. He said that certainly becoming an expert is not his thing, he is interested in whether he is doing a good job right now. That actually seems much smarter than thinking about things off in the future. It has pretty much been my philosophy, in fact. So it is interesting that I would be on this kick - it is interesting to me.

Funny story: A friend of mine, Jeffrey C. Hawkins hates the word ‘panties’. He hates the word so much that he has an equally hard time saying, ‘Pantene’. You know - the shampoo. It is possible that if he just tried to use the word more often that he wouldn’t dislike it so much. I mean - its not like kryptonite, I think - it can’t have some sort of magic power to it, can it? Truth is, Jeffrey, its not so bad - the word.

I hate goals like Jeffrey hates the “P” word. I have avoided them completely. They seem painful, arbitrary, clingy - like Kryptonite. I mean, I really hate the idea. But right now I am taking the advice that I would give Jeffrey C. Hawkins - I’m going to use a goal and see if it is really such a bad thing, it probably isn’t.

That is why I am talking about the goal of expertise as defined in the Dreyfus model. It isn’t to say that people should or shouldn’t be or strive for anything. It isn’t that this type of thinking should stand in opposition to any other way of thinking. To me, the only mark of whether a particular thought system is beneficial or harmful, is if it is making me uptight.

Take care, everyone. And thanks for the attention and thoughts. I’ll leave you with this

“Writing is an act of aggression” - John Updike