Ultracrepidarianism

Nobody likes an invent-it-all.

This morning, I was reading Stephen D Levitt and Steven J Dubner’s new book, Think Like A Freak. I was pleasantly reading chapter 2, and I stumbled upon a word that cached my eye: ultracrepidarianism.

This was the first time I’d seen such word, but the authors were cleaver enough to provide the definition in the same paragraph. It goes as follows:

Ultracrepidarianism:
The habit of giving opinions and advice on matters outside of one’s knowledge or competence.

Like I said, I wasn’t aware of the existence of such word, but I definitely know how people tend to give advice on topics they really don’t know anything about. I hate it.

Nobody likes a know-it-all. But everyone hates an invent-it-all.

That’s exactly why I have promised to myself that I will never write or give advice about a topic that I don’t master, let alone know anything about.
I think that the worst writers (and teachers) are the ones that mislead their readers (or students).

That’s why you will never see me write a post or book on how to drive a plane because, well… I have no idea how to drive a plane! If you would follow my advice on this topic, you would crash. I can assure you that.

However, I know a lot about meditation and I have been practicing it for some years now. So I am qualified to instruct people on how to get started, and maybe even answer some of the most common questions around the topic.

I also know a little bit about how to learn languages a little bit easier and faster, so you can expect to me to write about that topic.

But, as I said, you will never see me write or talk about a topic that I don’t know anything about. I hope that you don’t do it too.

What do you think? Have you ever come across with a teacher or writer that claimed to know about a topic that in reality they didn’t know nothing about?

Tell me on twitter at @Ricardo_Fabila