Well, I have time on my hands today, so I decided to try a poll :) . So, what specific topics do people here at SP think (!) they are expert on (either because they have a formal education in, or because they find it interesting to learn stuff about).

I hope I did not forget any major areas. If it comes out correctly, you should be able to vote for two options.

Poll Information
This poll contains 1 question(s). 53 user(s) have voted.
You may not view the results of this poll without voting.

Poll Results: Poll: Expertise :) (53 votes.)

What do you think you are knowledgeable about (Choose 2)
* numbers (math, computer science) - 25% (13)
* physical sciences (physics, chemistry) - 17% (9)
* life sciences (biology, medicine) - 13% (7)
* engineering (making stuff work) - 11% (6)
* law (include political science) - 9% (5)
* literature (add history) - 25% (13)
* fine arts (picture, music, film) - 17% (9)
* religion (obvious choice for many, I am sure :) ) - 9% (5)
* I am a Renaissance person (a bit of everything) - 34% (18)
* sports (don't care about anything else :) ) - 2% (1)

I am a Renaissance person (a bit of everything) I picked this one and religion. I know a little bit about a lot of things and have a lot of experience and education with religion.

I guess history and religion would be my best subjects, but of course it depends on the histories and the religions.

What about cultures? Its something that is always interesting to me.

I do not consider myself an expert in anything, since I don't have a degree in anything, but I put life sciences because I hold an interest in biology and because I wanted to see results.

I have to question the category of literature, since that doesn't necessarily have to do with history.

Oops, I forgot philosophy. Add this one under literature (which should be called letters, I guess).

Myself, I have formal training in physics and math - this is why I put them on top :)

literature and fine arts - those two I like to think I have a solid knowledge of.

(Felt that sayin renessaince would be too presumptious)

I'm not really an expert in any of them but the thing I'm closet to being an expert in would be music.

Oaz: right, literature and history are not very close. Still, both involve reading books :) and presumably give you an understanding of our fellow man.

If you want to make further differrentiation in a category, by all means, post your thoughts.

Also, expert may be too strong a word; let's say that your knowledge is more than average in the specified topic.

Hard to tell, except I'm on my way to a degree in law.

Allthough I have nothing but top grades in math and history from previous schools, I don't feel I'm an expert in any of those subjects. But next week I'll begin studying for a master degree in construction, so I better learn how to be an expert on math pretty soon :p .

Numbers and Engineering. I can fix most anything mechanical or electronic without even knowing how when I start, but aside from that I'm just a genuine computer geek. :grin:

numbers and engineering too. I should since I should be graduating as an engineer in a month.

I guess it depends on how expert you are talking about. I suppose I would put myself into the renaissance category in that I know a fair amount about a wide variety of the listed disciples but I wouldn't say that I am really an expert at them - sort of the old Jack of All Trades scenario.

I am somewhat of a trivia nut - I was captain of my high school Reach for the Top team which is sort of like a team Jeopardy competition. I was at the top in my classes in high school and university in a wide variety of subjects including the maths, sciences, social sciences, English etc.

If I were to look at topics where I am especially knowledgeable I guess I could say accounting, auditing, internal controls and to a lesser extent business in general. I have the education, training and experience that one would expect of a good chartered accountant.

I am pretty knowledgeable about computers, I have done a wide variety of repairs/maintenance, programming, network administration etc. over the years but I would not put myself in the same league as a good computer specialist.

I have quite a good knowledge of classical, science fiction, and fantasy literature plus history and Greek and Norse mythology but I wouldn't particularly care to pit myself against someone who has formally studied in any of those areas.

I am somewhat knowledgeable about movies, I know a lot more than anyone else that I know, but I know that there are lots of people out there who would make me look relatively ignorant.

Why isn't economics on the list?

IMHO, economics is specialized math that would fit under numbers.

Actually that brings to mind something that my mathematics for economics prof. said. "Numbers have no place in math." :rolleyes:

Yeah, he was big into theoretical math and didn't believe in actually doing anything practial with it.

Oh, and I guess that I could add economics to my list of somewhat expert areas. I took a minor in economics on my bachelor's degree so I suppose I would probably know more than most people but less than an economist or econ. major.

Splunge is going to be pretty unhappy that accounting is not on the list . . . . . .

Ah but if anything should fall into numbers then it is accounting which is the art of arranging and interpreting numbers and making them say something.

accounting should definitely fall under numbers. Economics, I don't know ... maybe under philosophy :)

edit: and if somebody says management, that should fall under fine arts, i.e., the art of BS :p

I would have voted for "Languages", but it wasn't an option...

What do you mean by expert?

I guess for me it's Letters: languages, literature, bit of history too.

Come to think of it there is a resemblance between the mechanisms of language and the mechanisms of math. Hmm, then how come I'm so bad at maths? :p

I suppose physical sciences would be one - I did get a degree after all - but I always try and keep myself in touch with languages and philosophy too, so I went for Renaissance man. But most of the rest on the list I'm pants at. Engineering would be right out, for one; I'm not sure if I could even wire a plug! I'd give it a go, of course, but I wouldn't trust myself not to blow stuff up.... :p

I voted for sports, because I'm a huge baseball fan and think I'm very knowledgable on the subject.

Why isn't "medical" on the list?

@Klorox:
life sciences (biology, medicine) :p

Law, I guess cause I'm doing my doctorate in it. :) Mind you, at this level, there's necessarily a level of specialization involved (i.e. criminal). So I can hardly claim to be an expert on law generally.

Music, movies and art as first choice and second is renaissance. I know a bit about everything and I think I know a lot about movies and music. Where would cooking fall?

Where would cooking fall? For me, cooking generally falls . . . on the floor. :o Seriously though, there's a technical argument that it could fall under chemistry, but I think of it as a 'fine art', because when done well, its majesty can be truly spectacular. :D

The closest would be law and political science, as I'm a criminologist by training.

I wouldn't classify myself as a Renaissance person; I have reached the stage of my life where I'm quite aware of just how ignorant I really am. That's not to say that I'm not keeping an open mind and interested in just about anything - I'm just a long way off being an expert at a lot of things.

Aww crap, missed that Felinoid.

Kuemper, I had the same question and went for physical science. After all, cooking really comes down to the proper management of heat and moisture. :roll:

Well, I'm doing a degree right now in plant sciences (biotechnology, physiology, etc) and a sub major in Microbiology, so I guess one of them would be life sciences...for Biology. But its not really spot on, is it?

And my second one would have to be the numbers one...but that's mostly because I'm a whiz with computers...very broad categories I'm afraid. :)

I figured it could go into these categories:

Numbers - specifically math; look at all those measuring fractions!

Physical Science - chemistry; listen to the sparkage between baking soda and warm water. :cool:

Life Science - biology or medicine; sometimes a cooking experiment goes awry and starts demanding rights or chicken soup. :borg:

Economics here. :square: A cultural science (Kulturwissenschaft), or to whatever it would translate in English.

Somewhat surprisingly, a quarter of votes so far are for numbers :hmm: I would not have expected this :)

The Renaissance option leads with about 40% of votes, and second is letters.

very broad categories I'm afraid it was either that, or have about 50 options in the poll :)

Somewhat surprisingly, a quarter of votes so far are for numbers I would not have expected this It's not surprising at all, given how many diverse subjects have been shoehorned into being part of the 'numbers' group. Maths, Computer Science, Accounting, Economics are all completely different things but they've been lumped together so that is why so many people have voted for that category.

Numbers & Engineering I guess.

What about Gardening? Under Biology?

another renaissance here, which actually means not enough of anything to be able to specialize in :D :(

will finish my undergrad degree in applied economics in a year though :)