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Pipe and tobacco experts: Are there any?: Difference between revisions
Pipe and tobacco experts: Are there any? (view source)
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This is a rather novel story not meant to designate specific individuals for attaboys, accolades, or public praise for their knowledge. It is a hypothesis-generating survey to determine who and how someone is qualified to be considered an expert in either pipes or tobacco, based on the narrowest definition of the term. On whom should one rely for their knowledge and advice, especially if one is new to the pleasure and enjoyment of pipe smoking? Asked slightly differently, whose opinion, judgment, or views on these two interrelated topics should one accept and trust? | This is a rather novel story not meant to designate specific individuals for attaboys, accolades, or public praise for their knowledge. It is a hypothesis-generating survey to determine who and how someone is qualified to be considered an expert in either pipes or tobacco, based on the narrowest definition of the term. On whom should one rely for their knowledge and advice, especially if one is new to the pleasure and enjoyment of pipe smoking? Asked slightly differently, whose opinion, judgment, or views on these two interrelated topics should one accept and trust? | ||
The fundamental question is how does one become an expert at anything? Is it exposure or experience? Is there a yardstick by which someone demonstrates that he is an expert in the field of tobacco and pipes? Or | The fundamental question is how does one become an expert at anything? Is it exposure or experience? Is there a yardstick by which someone demonstrates that he is an expert in the field of tobacco and pipes? Or is it merely the presumption of knowledge that is the sole determinant of someone’s expertise? And at what point does a person transition from being merely good at something to being a bona-fide expert? Unlike a personal property appraiser who undergoes a formal education, takes an exam, and applies for a license, there is no test, no certification process, no online courses, no industry guidelines, no metrics or measures of merit to become an expert. Knowledge doesn’t necessarily make someone an expert. After all, anyone can memorize facts or regurgitate information. Too many questions, too few answers. | ||
First, the obligatory definitions: Expert: “a person who has a comprehensive and authoritative knowledge of or skill in a particular area.” Comprehensive: “Having or exhibiting wide mental grasp, comprehensive knowledge.” Authoritative: “Able to be trusted as being accurate or true.” Knowledge, skill, and achievement in a particular field seem to be the generally accepted determinants, all critical components of expertise. People who attain this level of expertise may be called experts or by other terms, such as authority, genius, maven, master, prodigy, or virtuoso. Others identify expertise by five stages of knowledge growth: novice, advanced beginner, competent, proficient, and expert. Dan Schwabel offered, “7 Signs That You Are Now An Expert And Can Call Yourself One” (socialmediatoday.com). (Former U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese is quoted as having jokingly said: “An expert is somebody who is more than 50 miles from home, has no responsibility for implementing the advice he gives, and shows slides.”) | First, the obligatory definitions: Expert: “a person who has a comprehensive and authoritative knowledge of or skill in a particular area.” Comprehensive: “Having or exhibiting wide mental grasp, comprehensive knowledge.” Authoritative: “Able to be trusted as being accurate or true.” Knowledge, skill, and achievement in a particular field seem to be the generally accepted determinants, all critical components of expertise. People who attain this level of expertise may be called experts or by other terms, such as authority, genius, maven, master, prodigy, or virtuoso. Others identify expertise by five stages of knowledge growth: novice, advanced beginner, competent, proficient, and expert. Dan Schwabel offered, “7 Signs That You Are Now An Expert And Can Call Yourself One” (socialmediatoday.com). (Former U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese is quoted as having jokingly said: “An expert is somebody who is more than 50 miles from home, has no responsibility for implementing the advice he gives, and shows slides.”) | ||
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Expert is a term often assigned by people to other people, sometimes without proof, evidence or fact. Anybody can label himself an authority. Search the word “expert” on LinkedIn and you’ll find more than 4.5 million names! Experts are made, not born. How, then, can you tell when you’re dealing with a genuine expert? Real expertise must pass three tests: superior performance, produce concrete results, and successful outcomes, none of which, of course, are applicable or measurable in an informal hobby such as ours. Best-selling author Simon Sinek says: “The best leaders don’t consider themselves experts; they consider themselves students.” | Expert is a term often assigned by people to other people, sometimes without proof, evidence or fact. Anybody can label himself an authority. Search the word “expert” on LinkedIn and you’ll find more than 4.5 million names! Experts are made, not born. How, then, can you tell when you’re dealing with a genuine expert? Real expertise must pass three tests: superior performance, produce concrete results, and successful outcomes, none of which, of course, are applicable or measurable in an informal hobby such as ours. Best-selling author Simon Sinek says: “The best leaders don’t consider themselves experts; they consider themselves students.” | ||
One popular belief is that the key to becoming an expert is to devote at least 10,000 hours to the study and practice of a subject. This idea is based on a 1993 study in which researchers found that the most accomplished violinists at a music academy had spent an average of 10,000 hours practicing their instrument by the age of 20. Indeed.com challenges this conventional wisdom: “However, there is no way to definitively say whether anyone can become an expert. | One popular belief is that the key to becoming an expert is to devote at least 10,000 hours to the study and practice of a subject. This idea is based on a 1993 study in which researchers found that the most accomplished violinists at a music academy had spent an average of 10,000 hours practicing their instrument by the age of 20. Indeed.com challenges this conventional wisdom: “However, there is no way to definitively say whether anyone can become an expert.” | ||
Now that I have exhausted the definition of expert, who are ''our'' experts? Where should I look, and what will I find? I decided to mine the Web, because that’s where, nowadays, one can find lots of pipe and tobacco commentary. The statements are in no particular order of importance or significance. What they all have in common is the use of the word “expert” or “expertise” to describe certain people, most of whom are, unsurprisingly, unnamed. You might be surprised at what I found. Evaluate the comments and draw your own conclusions. | Now that I have exhausted the definition of expert, who are ''our'' experts? Where should I look, and what will I find? I decided to mine the Web, because that’s where, nowadays, one can find lots of pipe and tobacco commentary. The statements are in no particular order of importance or significance. What they all have in common is the use of the word “expert” or “expertise” to describe certain people, most of whom are, unsurprisingly, unnamed. You might be surprised at what I found. Evaluate the comments and draw your own conclusions. | ||
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Most everyone is familiar with Chuck Stanion (smokingpipes.com) and, no doubt, they follow his monthly column, Pipe Line. Chuck covers the proverbial waterfront, writing about pipes, products, and personalities of today and yesterday including legendary figures, such as Santa Claus, Frosty the Snowman, and Saint Patrick. He uses the term “expert” prudently … an observation, not a criticism. In “Meet Tad Gage: Publisher, Writer, Reviewer, Collector” (November 2021), he wrote that Gage “…became perhaps the foremost expert on Barling pipes at the time…” In his April 2022 article, “Mark Irwin: Doctor of Pipes and Peterson Researcher Extraordinaire,” he stated that Mark “…would later become one of the foremost Peterson experts in the world. In May 2022, Chuck posted “Tobacco and Pipe Expertise: William Serad,” but did not call him an expert. | Most everyone is familiar with Chuck Stanion (smokingpipes.com) and, no doubt, they follow his monthly column, Pipe Line. Chuck covers the proverbial waterfront, writing about pipes, products, and personalities of today and yesterday including legendary figures, such as Santa Claus, Frosty the Snowman, and Saint Patrick. He uses the term “expert” prudently … an observation, not a criticism. In “Meet Tad Gage: Publisher, Writer, Reviewer, Collector” (November 2021), he wrote that Gage “…became perhaps the foremost expert on Barling pipes at the time…” In his April 2022 article, “Mark Irwin: Doctor of Pipes and Peterson Researcher Extraordinaire,” he stated that Mark “…would later become one of the foremost Peterson experts in the world. In May 2022, Chuck posted “Tobacco and Pipe Expertise: William Serad,” but did not call him an expert. | ||
Chuck titled his bio about me in December 2021: “Ben Rapaport: Tobacco Literature and Antique Pipe Expert.” On pipesmagazine.com, Sagebrush called me a pipe maven. I’ve been called “an antiquarian of rare pipeology” and “a word craftsman of the first order.” Craig Cobine, the Chicagoland Pipe Collectors Club Show Director, maintains that I am “one of the world’s best known and highly regarded experts on antique pipes, and pipe literature.” However appreciative I am of these several honorifics, I have never sought or desired accolades or kudos. To dodge the proverbial slings and arrows of those who occupy the Web and enjoy ridiculing or embarrassing those who assert expertise | Chuck titled his bio about me in December 2021: “Ben Rapaport: Tobacco Literature and Antique Pipe Expert.” On pipesmagazine.com, Sagebrush called me a pipe maven. I’ve been called “an antiquarian of rare pipeology” and “a word craftsman of the first order.” Craig Cobine, the Chicagoland Pipe Collectors Club Show Director, maintains that I am “one of the world’s best known and highly regarded experts on antique pipes, and pipe literature.” However appreciative I am of these several honorifics, I have never sought or desired accolades or kudos. To dodge the proverbial slings and arrows of those who occupy the Web and enjoy ridiculing or embarrassing those who assert expertise, when asked, my typical response is that I am just someone who likes to write a lot about pipes and tobaccos … nothing more. | ||
According to pipesandcigars.com, “Russ [Ouellette] is our resident tobacco guru around here. If there is anything you need to know about a blend, cut, component or history of a tobacco blend, he is the guy to see. Thankfully he has compiled the following compendium of information for the learning masses.” “You ought to try the Hearth & Home blends from Pipes & Cigars, concocted by Russ Ouelette [''sic''], generally acknowledged as the most expert blender in America” (gentlemansgazette.com). That description, I would say, makes Russ an expert, but he never self-promoted as one. And I would add Greg Pease, the late Joe Lankford, and Cornell and Diehl to this short list. As well, the Doctors of Pipes and Masters of the Pipe should be considered experts in their respective fields. | According to pipesandcigars.com, “Russ [Ouellette] is our resident tobacco guru around here. If there is anything you need to know about a blend, cut, component or history of a tobacco blend, he is the guy to see. Thankfully he has compiled the following compendium of information for the learning masses.” “You ought to try the Hearth & Home blends from Pipes & Cigars, concocted by Russ Ouelette [''sic''], generally acknowledged as the most expert blender in America” (gentlemansgazette.com). That description, I would say, makes Russ an expert, but he never self-promoted as one. And I would add Greg Pease, the late Joe Lankford, and Cornell and Diehl to this short list. As well, the Doctors of Pipes and Masters of the Pipe should be considered experts in their respective fields. | ||