I found this interesting article on wine.

http://www.marketwatch.com/sto...-tell-you-2014-07-31

I'm not a wine "expert" so that places me in the group with 99.99% of the rest of the people in the world.

I like where the experts taste-tested wines and after being given the same wine, from the same bottle, three times; the same judge judged the same wine all over the scale from so-so to excellent.

I have a suspicion that there are other things that we say we "know", but probably don't. I can't tell what wood is being used for smoking meat, unless the guy in charge tells me. I would be very impressed if I was to see someone taste smoked meat with the wood used having been one of ten possible selections, pick the correct one more than ten percent of the time.

You are 100% correct. Much of what we "know" is not knowledge at all. The things we really know for sure are bone-simple everyday things...such as " most of us seem to wake up every day from a period of sleep".

Making things complex is the greatest money and power making industry the world has ever known.

It is as true in astrophysics as it is in medicine, teaching, writing text books, doing our taxes, making shoes, building or driving transportation, making or using armaments, processing foods for consumption, and multitudes of other things. No matter what the subject, if it is possible to make it more complex, there is more opportunity for "an expert" to make a living from it. It also makes it easier in many cases to sell...want some "new & improved" anyone?

The most classic example that comes to mind is in astronomy. At one time it was assumed all the stars and the sun rotated around the earth. Astronomers of the time and mathemeticians had worked out grossly complex formulae which DID allow them to predict the position of the sky of any visible celestial body on any date in the future. But was that knowledge? Well, how to make the predictions was knowledge of a sort, but it was all based on a completely incorrect piece of knowledge, that the earth was the centre of the universe.

Anytime the explanation of anything takes more than 1,000 words, you can bet your life it is "assumed" knowledge, which may or may not be entirely true.

AC,

Reading your post, particularly the third paragraph, I immediately thought of my eye doctor. Two years ago I had cataract surgery, and replaced both lenses. Since then, my surgeon has tried to get me to continue coming in every three months for a "checkup", for the foreseeable future. The only reason I can think of is because he wants me to be part of his revenue stream. I read an eye chart, He dilates my eyes. I pay him $30 for the visit and get billed another $30 a few months later when Medicare doesn't cover the "checkup".

I suspect dentists use the same business model.

After retiring it became ever more obvious that just about everyone still working is in some way trying to separate you from your money.

Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit, wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad!

quote:

Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit, wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad!

OUTSTANDING!!!!!!!!!


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As discovered during the Paris Wine Tasting of 1976, even snobby self-important French wine judges can't distinguish their beloved French grapes from crappy ole Napa grapes and wound up awarding top honors to both California Chardonnays and Cabernets.

Wine tasting is nothing more than a collection of self-important wannabe snobs trying to out snob the other. Personally, I'm just after the alcohol, the grape flavoring is just a bonus.

Wine snobbery probably wins the prize.

1. Twenty five years ago I had a VP once try to put my wife and I down at a dinner because we mentioned enjoying rosé wine. The CEO's wife then mentioned she also liked rosé wine, and of course the VP went dead silent.

2. Wine snobs used to get hysterical over the idea of a wine blend. Now suddenly they are all the rage.

3. Wine with a screw top used to be an abomination to a wine snob, now it is suddenly OK, and likely to replace the cork entirely, eventually.

I've noticed over a lifetime that wine snobs that make their living from the wine industry have very lofty standards right up until they notice that you aren't buying what they are selling. Then they drop on all fours, crawl across the room to where you are , and offer to suck whatever you say needs sucked.