Monday, April 21, 2008

#6: "Experts"

It seems these days almost anyone can call themselves an expert in something. But how often do we see these so-called experts completely getting it wrong?

Did you know that NASA spent over 125 million dollars on a Mars orbiter program...only to find out that their "experts" did the math wrong and sent the orbiter burning to ashes in the planet's atmosphere? Here's what's rich: Their downfall was that they actually had TWO teams of "experts" working on the orbiter program. But one team used metric units and the other used English units. Oops. There goes 125 million dollars! That's an expensive candle.

And how many times this campaign season have the political "experts" told us exactly how a primary race was going to go? Only to be completely wrong? New Hampshire's primary this year was a good example of that. Polls showed Hillary Clinton was going to get beaten pretty soundly by Barack Obama. It was going to be the impetus for her getting out of the race. Instead, Clinton clearly won New Hampshire and used it as a reason for why she should stay in.

Or how about those movie critics?

"You MUST see this movie!"

"An EXCITING thrill ride!"

So you spend your 8 bucks for tickets, 6 bucks for popcorn and 3 bucks for a soda...only to walk out feeling like you just got mugged. Critics for Norbit told us it was "Hysterically Funny"...yeah, cuz the first three movies with Eddie Murphy in a fat suit just weren't enough for us.

Sometimes, I think critics just like to hear themselves speak. Or maybe they just like toying with people's emotions. In the case of movie reviews, I know there's some sort of "prestige" that comes with having your quote on the movie poster or DVD cover.

Let's be honest: Opinions are like belly buttons. Everybody's got one. Some are shallow. Some are deep. Some are fuzzier than others. But just because you have one, doesn't make you an expert. And it certainly doesn't mean I want to see it. Unless you know what you're talking about, please just keep it to yourself.

So-called "experts": You Suck.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I didn't even bother watching Norbit, did you really see it ?

What ? You have something against people w/ outies ?? And fuzzy belly buttons, ewwww.

p.s.
Mine is not an outie, I'm just sticking up for those that are....

Hoover Maneuver said...

No...nothing against outies. I actually think belly buttons are kinda cute. Except the ones with fuzz in 'em.

Ha!

Nope...I didn't see Norbit. I saw the trailer. That was enough for me to be convinced I didn't need to see the movie.

Anonymous said...

Just curious. Do belly buttons actually get fuzzy ? How long would one have to go w/out bathing to get a fuzzy belly button ?