Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!csd4.milw.wisc.edu!lll-winken!ames!pacbell!att!pegasus!ech
From: ech@pegasus.ATT.COM (Edward C Horvath)
Newsgroups: comp.edu
Subject: Re: "Expertise"
Message-ID: <2746@pegasus.ATT.COM>
Date: 5 Apr 89 16:54:49 GMT
References: <3976@tekig5.PEN.TEK.COM>
Distribution: usa
Organization: AT&T ISL Middletown NJ USA
Lines: 19

From article <3976@tekig5.PEN.TEK.COM>, by wayneck@tekig5.PEN.TEK.COM (Wayne Knapp):
> In real life the application of theory and the understanding of theory
> go hand-in-hand.  The people who can really get the work done are the
> ones who balence the application with the theory...

There's another dimension as well: a sense of history helps you avoid 
repeating errors; a flexible attitude allows you to stay with the
technology as it changes.  If you can't read the literature, you'll have
neither.  And you won't know when the technology is driving the theory --
i.e. it's time to roll up your sleeves and start hacking.

But not all of this has to reside in the same skull, and there's plenty of
evidence that it won't all fit.  So I'll place another trait in the basket:
have enough respect for the other guy to listen.  And enough sense to take
whatever she's offering -- theoretical advice or empirical experience --
and use it to solve your own problems.  The most seductive phrase I know is
"tell me about your work..."

=Ned Horvath=