Annoying experts

[Araréiel]

So tell me, is your environment crowded with Tolkien amateurs, experts and haters?

Presently those around me are mostly indifferent. Almost all I've ever met were annoying amateurs who thought they knew it all. My ex knew a bit, but i surpassed him. He was just a regular fan, nothing special. Sadly, the best conversation I've had with a person aside from typing (as in on the phone or in person) was when I called to re-register my domain name (LordoftheRingsOnline.net) when I was having problems doing so a few days ago. He recognized my user name as being from LotR. We chatted for a good hour.

I use "expert" in quotes to refer to the fact that that person won't ever be a true expert. The only expert (minus quotes) would be Tolkien, yet even he didn't have all the answers. He crafted a world so real I am sure he'd have to sit down to figure out the answers to certain questions.

Oh, to have his level of genius.

[Aredhel]

Yes, yes, I've continually had run-ins with... ir....shall we say: a published writer.
He's doing tours, and regularly posts everywhere, I'm sure even here, too. I like his work very much, but when he grabs onto a thread and maims it unmercilessly with facts that he has been looking up for years (professionally!), I tend to get a bit flustered. Sometimes he's amazing; other times, he's just plain boring.
Oh, well. I'm sure jealousy enters into this. It's just a shame I didn't do what he's doing, years ago. I could have been famous. BAH!

[Meela]

I admit I do get annoyed with experts, but then that would be hypocritical, considering I have a jolly fun time correcting everyone else.
I have a friend who isn't the greatest fan of Lotr, but does know the basics. Or at least she tries to understand. We had a lot of fun one afternoon, me correcting her and her laughing at herself in a good way.

I don't mind experts, since I can learn a lot from them. I like being corrected if I make a wrong point, and I don't mind swapping facts, but some people act as though they are looking down at you for not being as clever. That's just tedious.

[Boromir88]

I don't mind experts, since I can learn a lot from them. I like being corrected if I make a wrong point

Meela, true, if I make a wrong point I don't mind being corrected. The "annoying experts" for me are ones who think all of their views are right, no one else can be right, or basically the ones whos pompous ignorance gets in the way.

[Lalwendë]

I think one of the many wonderful things about Tolkien is that you can never know everything - there's always something new to learn. So there are no total experts! But I know what you mean about people who do think they know everything. Some people think I know a lot, e.g. I'm always the one called upon to settle arguments, but I know I'm no expert! Half the time I have to say "I'll have to look that up when I get home, because I don't know".

I pronounce a few of the names incorrectly, but that's because when I first read the book as a kid, I had my own idea of how the names would sound, and even though since then I know better, those original impressions stay in my mind.

As for being annoying, one day there had been a four way conversation (shouted across the office) that had lasted all morning at work, close on the heels of several weeks' worth of assorted other Tolkien conversations. At the end of this one morning a colleague in the corner stood up and shouted "No! I've had enough of this!" and stomped out.

[Laitoste]

I'm so jealous of anyone who has known an annoying expert! I don't even know a regular expert! (aside from around the Downs, and none of those are annoying!) I most certainly am not an expert (in anything), although I know more about The Lord of the Rings than anyone else in my town. (or I don't know that they know more than me)

[The Only Real Estel]

I agree with Meela that experts are usually perfectly fine, & even when they're not I can still learn something from them. The only thing that annoys me a bit is when someone goes into a short summary of the life of a character just to answer a question that would've taken one sentence to say. Or, worse yet, all they ever wanted to do was agree but decided to expound upon every tidbit of the character's character. It comes across as: I'm throwing a bunch of facts out here (99% of them everyone already knew) to show that I know quite a bit about this character; though I'm sure they don't mean to come across that way. It mostly happens with newbies, they think that most of the people here know little about Tolkien so they decide to start of with a good post full of education for those that know far less than them ( I'll admit my first few posts on this site followed that line ).

Cheers,
Estel

[Morsul the Dark]

Originally Posted by Laitoste

I'm so jealous of anyone who has known an annoying expert! I don't even know a regular expert! (aside from around the Downs, and none of those are annoying!) I most certainly am not an expert (in anything), although I know more about The Lord of the Rings than anyone else in my town. (or I don't know that they know more than me)

I feel the same way However Sometimes the experts on this site do annoy me not intentionally of course and I understand they are trying to be nice correcting me when I'm wrong it just bugs me to be corrected