Have Experience? (another rant) - Page 4

bistrobob85 · 08-15-04, 03:57 PM

''Im very expirienced with them, dont get me wrong'' from Rikki in the ''iguana'' thread.

Now this is the 4rth forum in which i see you telling people about your tremendous 4 years of herp keeping tons of experience!!!! This is getting pretty anoying!

phil.

Rikki · 08-15-04, 04:01 PM

If its annoying dont read the post, and stop arguing

Katt · 08-15-04, 04:21 PM

Honestly Rikki, no one is going to believe you when you can not even SPELL experienced. Sure, ssnakess is not a spelling bee, but if you can't even spell the very word you claim to be, then it really shows your not.

As well, the very many herpers who are experienced and EXTREMELY knowledgable, have never once had to say, that they were. Their advice, their posts, their *well written posts* exude wisdom and experience.

You aren't cool, when you have to tell everyone you are cool.

Rikki · 08-15-04, 04:24 PM

Where did i mis spell experience?

Katt · 08-15-04, 04:26 PM

I rest my case.

Rikki · 08-15-04, 04:28 PM

Damn, i never noticed that. I guess its a habbit typo like sometimes you may notice me to spell owner: ownder.....

dave68 · 08-15-04, 04:29 PM

I sure wish there was a hysterical laughter option to post!!LOL!!!

Dave

Rikki · 08-15-04, 04:30 PM

LMAO2, i feel very dumb! I never even noticed that....

Mustangrde1 · 08-16-04, 07:03 AM

BW on his soap box again lol. BW my friend this needs to be posted all over the net. Wish this entire thread could be as it is a great one and one well wourth everyones time to read.

Most people that know me think of hots yet I have kept and breed many species of non-venomous for years. I guess the reason I do not post on Boas or Colub threads is im tired of seeing people try and tell people they are wrong, if they do it diffrently then them. The quest for knowledge and experiance is something we should all be open.

There is no such thing as an expert in a living science just those with higher degrees of experiance. I try to live by that rule when reading information or opinions of people so that i am open to new ideas and ways to better keep my animals.

Age is of no issue to me. We have a 14 year old in our herp society that when it comes to certain species of snakes blows me away. Not only can he explain genetics of breeding and care but he can explain why and how. I know a 19 year old that has been keeping hots since he was 15 and is someone I would let work with me because of his knowledge and maturity. On the same tokken there are many I would never no matter how many years they have.

Look no further then Kapplan. Many call her an { expert } _____________________ <~~~~pause so all can laugh. You look over her sheets you will laugh. Yet I hear by many people oh she is the best. In talking to people though that are imo an expert they can point out many inacurrate information points in her post.

Oh damn im getting on a soap box now. Guess my point is take what you read concider the source and research more articles and journals and find the repeating fact and throw out the myths.

No spell checking me i dont care how bad it is this early

DragnDrop · 08-16-04, 07:59 AM

I think part of the problem is considering "experience" and "knowledge" to be interchangeable. They aren't, not even a little bit. I've got several hundred years experience according to the scale mentioned in the original post, yet I wouldn't say I'm an expert herper.

As an example, I've had a (gecko) Rhacodactylus l. henkeli for just over 4 years now. All I've learned from her so far is how to feed her, her preferred foods, feeding times and methods, or how to tell if she's too hot. I've learned she has a great vocabulary of noises which she uses mostly at night to keep me awake. Since I don't have a male, I have no knowledge about their mating and breeding routines, no idea of their interactions with others of their species. She's still young, so there's no experience with geriatric leachies, and she's never been sick, so there are no medical expericences to pass on. Yet, if I were to say I have over 4 years experience with Leachianus, you'd think I should know it all, or most of it.

On the other hand, I've got tons of knowledge about dart frogs that I accumulated over 6 years of keeping them. Within a year of keeping my first 12 darts, I learned everything from acclimating new acquisitions all the way through breeding, raising tadpoles and froglets. And I even learned about the internal makeup, unfortunately some of them died. The dead ones taught me about buying/shipping darts, about how to make sure they really are CB not WC or farmed and how to treat them accordingly. How to make sure the shipper knows how to package and ship them properly. I learned way more about darts in 12 months than I learned about Leachianus in 4 years. Yet, if I'd said back then that I had 1 year of experience with darts, I would have been labelled a newbie, not to be listened to.

Experience does not necessarily bestow knowledge, nor vice versa. Yet a lack of either one will greatly increase the other.

BoidKeeper · 08-16-04, 08:07 AM

I posted this one already but I think it works here too.
This is from Greg Maxwell author of the complete chondro.
"As the number of forums grew, and teh popularity of the most active forums increased, moderation became a problem. Self-styled "experts" with little to no experience or results jockeyed for attention and juveniles with no apparent education about grammar or punctuation used the boards for daily playgrounds. As many people know, the biggest problem with the Internet is that anybody can say literally anything. If knowledgeable and experienced people don't correct errors and keep things on track, then bad information spreads rapidly and confusion abounds. If these people do stand up and speak, those corrected can become openly hostile, and if forum moderators don't control this then good forums can be quickly ruined. At one point the, the strife became so bad that KS shut down all of its forums for a brief period. More than one forum was left closed, but those that remained open continued to allow a "free for all" atmosphere. Those who were intent on having intelligent discussions grew more and more frustrated with the situation, and most serious users got fed up and left. Unfortunately, human nature being what it is, this situation is doomed to be repeated anywhere mature and qualified moderators are not actively involved with Internet forms."
Cheers,
Trevor

Mustangrde1 · 08-16-04, 08:29 AM

Trevor. You brought up a great point. I do not see it happen here to often thank god. But all to often on other sites. Moderators need to be able to inforce the rules of sites but also be able to allow for corrections from other members. It is a tough line sometimes.

The problem ive seen on a few forums is the { god } like status some members feel they have and a few mods. I have even seen some Mods say { never question me or my credentials are beyound question do not question them or your post will be deleted.} This pisses me off to know end. I guess i have a more easy attitude then most but if I am wrong or off or forgot something I would welcome someone to point it out or ask about what i left out or forgot. But to be Rude to a new member or outright cruel in correcting a person will turn people off from posting or cause them to say screw you and do it anyway which both can lead to the animals not being given better care and that I just cant stand. We all need to be more forgiving and polite in how me talk to and or correct people.

Human nature is a wild beast and I know ive started off some of my post with some very nasty comments then going back and rereading them edited it. We all need to work for the betterment of information and animals well being.

BoidKeeper · 08-16-04, 01:08 PM

Amen to that. And I need to work on my judgment so I stope getting sucked into arguments with kids.
Trevor

marisa · 08-16-04, 01:30 PM

You aren't the only one Boidkeeper. Many many times I should keep my mouth shut, I don't. And the minute I hit the reply button, I know I should have just left it alone. :P

Marisa

BoidKeeper · 08-16-04, 01:53 PM

Ah but let's not forget this part,

Quote:

If knowledgeable and experienced people don't correct errors and keep things on track, then bad information spreads rapidly and confusion abounds. If these people do stand up and speak, those corrected can become openly hostile, and if forum moderators don't control this then good forums can be quickly ruined.

Cheers,
Trevor