people who think they know everything!

[leatheroo]

I was at the local market this morning and to my surprise there was a leathercraft stall! I have never seen a stall here in geelong in 25 years, so i thought i would have a chat. The gent and his wife make belts, wallets, hats etc... We started chatting and eventually got to the subject of the internet and i was praising the members on this site and the wealth of information here.....He relied " I have been in the business for over 35 years and there is nothing anyone could teach me!!!!!" I nearly fell over...i have never come across any crafts person that didnt think they could improve!!

I had a closer look at his stock and yes, you guessed it, his work was pretty average..not the worst i have seen, but there was LOTS of room for improvement.

I still cant believe he said that!!!!

[Suze]

I was at the local market this morning and to my surprise there was a leathercraft stall! I have never seen a stall here in geelong in 25 years, so i thought i would have a chat. The gent and his wife make belts, wallets, hats etc... We started chatting and eventually got to the subject of the internet and i was praising the members on this site and the wealth of information here.....He relied " I have been in the business for over 35 years and there is nothing anyone could teach me!!!!!" I nearly fell over...i have never come across any crafts person that didnt think they could improve!!

I had a closer look at his stock and yes, you guessed it, his work was pretty average..not the worst i have seen, but there was LOTS of room for improvement.

I still cant believe he said that!!!!

That is rich....

Poor man will be stuck in medocrity for the rest of his life.

[TexasJack]

There was a Far Side cartoon with a kid holding up his hand with the caption reading, "Sorry, teacher, but my head is full."

I've met any number of people like that who at some odd point in their lives just refuse to learn any more.

What's really amazing is that if you look at the people you REALLY admire (on LW.net, for example) they are always trying to learn and improve.

[cybertracy]

there is nothing anyone could teach me!!!!!"

what did you reply? funny thing is, when you get to that level of arrogance, there really IS nothing anyone could teach him!

[Luke Hatley]

some people just dont get it...........

this has been on the wall in my shop for a long time.

"EVERY MAN I MEET IS IN SOME WAY MY SUPERIOR.

AND IN THAT I CAN LEARN FROM HIM."

Edited October 25, 2009 by Luke Hatley

[TTcustom]

Amen Luke, AMEN!

I can even learn something from that poor closed off gent. An example of arrogance slamming the door in the face of knowledge and new wonders.

[dirtclod]

One thing is for sure i know i don't much of anything. I have been doing leather work full time for over 20 years and i learn something new ever day. In the short time i have been on Leather Worker i have learned lots of things. Learned new things and different ways of doing other things. If a person will look around and ask a few questions you can learn something new just about every day of your life.

I read one a saying that said " I'm old enough now to know that i don't know ever thing "and truer words were never spoke. Leather Roo that guy needs to come out from his rock and look around.

It's just like when your growing up your parnets are the dumbest people that ever lived until you get to be in your 20's if your lucky and in your 30's if your not so lucky. That you realize your parents are pretty durn smart.

[Denise]

I was reading once about the learning curve being bell shaped. The newbie knows they don't know much. The intermediate thinks they know a lot. Some stay there. Others learn more, and discover that the more you learn, the more you need to learn, till you are back knowing that you really don't know a lot of what there is to know. I thought that was pretty accurate.

[TroyS]

That kind of arrogance just solidifies one theory I have in life... STOOPID PEOPLE SHOULD NOT BREED!

[Spence]

My father and grandmother made sure I never forgot that I "will never learn all there is to know about anything and everything." The older I get, the more I want to learn - and believe me, I'm getting old I feel sad for that person and I hope he shows up here, out of curiosity, and finds room in his heart and brain for us. Leatheroo, I believe you have planted the seed of curiosity with this man and I hope you keep on doing that.

[Peter Ellis]

You know, the fellow may very well be right. Literally correct. He didn't say "I don't have anything left to learn", he said "there is nothing anyone could teach me".

With that belief, it's quite possibly true.

[bustedlifter]

Reminds me of an old saying,'Intelligence has it's limits but stupidity knows no bounds.' Or something like that. I've learned many,many things on here,maybe that dude could,too, not the least of them being humility.

[katsass]

Along these lines, an old horseman's saying gives the same meaning to many of these thoughts, but said differently. "There ain't a horse that can't be rode and there ain't a man that can't be throwed".

This individual is obviously a self proclaimed "expert". Breaking that down, an 'EX' is a has-been; a 'SPERT' (spurt) is a drip under pressure. As stated by many here, I also have learned soooo much from others on this forum, and I've been doing leather work for about 50 years. If you quit learning, you stagnate.

Edited October 25, 2009 by katsass

[cem]

That always annoys me when someone says that have being doing this for so and so years just because you have been doing it that long doesn't mean that you have been doing it right.

[RunningRoan]

That always annoys me when someone says that have being doing this for so and so years just because you have been doing it that long doesn't mean that you have been doing it right.

I agree! This kind of attitude is also one of my biggest pet peeves. Experience or time spent does not automatically equate to expertise.

[Go2Tex]

No, I see his point. He's been doing what he does for 30 years and so far it's working. Like Peter said, he doesn't necessarily think there is nothing left to learn, but he might not believe he needs to change what ain't broke.

[JohnBarton]

Some folks are just comfortable doing what they do and they really believe that what they do is the best way to do it. I have seen a lot of those flea market belt makers who figure out the easiest fastest way to get it done and give the customer a quickly made belt with their name on it. They are like the sketch artist on the boardwalk who learns a certain technique and never aspires to be more that that.

This is just bread and butter leather work where a guy created a job for himself but is probably lacking the passion for it. As a former fleam marketer I can tell you that it's not any fun standing there day after day dealing with a lot of people who just want to nickle and dime you.

He might be the type that quite possibly could never understand the feeling that a Peter Main belt evokes in the owner as well as Peter's fellow passionate leather workers who get to see it if only just in pictures.

I run into people in the billiards business who profess to know it all all the time. It's hilarious to hear them prattle on in ignorance of what is really going on.

In case anyone here wants to know - I have been making cue cases for nearly 20 years. I have been on LW for about 2 years now I guess. Since being on LW my list of things to try grows daily. My skills as a case maker have grown substantially during my time here and thank you all for that.

That said I myself have been guilty of acting like a know-it-all on the subject of cue case making and other things related to pool. So lately I have had to take a few steps back and reassess the difference between what I really know and what I think.

[thecapgunkid]

God loves that goober too, so be glad that you did not strike back at him and walked away. Sound thinking. Nevertheless, if I have any kind of question I'll come to someone like you over someone like him any day because folks who stand on that type of phrase...you know... I been doing this for thirty five years... may well have been doing this one year thirty five times.

ON a different day, maybe if you bring him a piece of your work, you might recruit him to a website and forum such as this and he'll change his ways in a hurry.

Don't shoot yore eye out, kid

The Capgun Kid

[UKRay]

That always annoys me when someone says that have being doing this for so and so years just because you have been doing it that long doesn't mean that you have been doing it right.

But who is to say what is right or wrong? Let's face it, leatherworking is not an exact science. IMHO, someone who has been making money doing something for thirty years is more convincing than someone just starting out and thinking they know all the answers.

Remember that there are two sides to every story. The guy may have had a good reason for saying what he did...

Ray

[scottishshoemaker]

Every Day is a School Day, forget him Leatheroo..

[DaveT]

When I was 17 I knew everything. As I grew older I continued to learn. Mostly I learned how little I knew and how much more there was to learn. I hope to one day learn enough to realize that I know absolutely nothing. That seems very Zen to me.

Dave T.

[cem]

But who is to say what is right or wrong? Let's face it, leatherworking is not an exact science. IMHO, someone who has been making money doing something for thirty years is more convincing than someone just starting out and thinking they know all the answers.

Remember that there are two sides to every story. The guy may have had a good reason for saying what he did...

Ray

My line of thought came from an old Phys Ed teacher who said practice doesn't make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect ie in our field say you have been cutting leather with a head knife but have been holding it wrong for the last ten years. You've been practising but practising the wrong way then someone shows you how to hold it the right way and you thank your lucky stars that you haven't done yourself a serious injury in that ten years.

Yes there are two sides to every story the market fellow probably did have a good reason for saying what he did but in the fields I've worked in I've found more closed off nope I'm doing it right even though it's dangerous so called experienced people than know it all newbies.

Clair

[UKRay]

My line of thought came from an old Phys Ed teacher who said practice doesn't make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect ie in our field say you have been cutting leather with a head knife but have been holding it wrong for the last ten years. You've been practising but practising the wrong way then someone shows you how to hold it the right way and you thank your lucky stars that you haven't done yourself a serious injury in that ten years.

Can't argue with that, Clair.

Of course there are people who have been doing something for years who you believe get it wrong, and often they won't listen to 'the truth as you see it' because they are perfectly happy with what they are doing. YOU may think they are wrong but it probably works okay for them. Who is 'right' then?

[Randy Cornelius]

Some people are like buckets, you can only put so much in them and then it starts overflowing on the ground. I don't waste time with these types of people. I am surprised everytime I have a begining leathercraft class, I seem to learn something from one of my students.

Randy

[Timd]

I feel you can learn from everyone you meet. If not how to do something, then how NOT to do it.