Quote Originally Posted by Murph1090 View Post
In 35 years as a locksmith, I've invented a few devices and tools to make jobs go much smoother. some went into production, many are locked away after some self-proclaimed expert with a crapload of letters after their name said that there's no way it can work. There are certain jobs where the individual has called around to see who I'm working for, and then try to get me out to do the work. I've told more than a few people to KMA, and shove their wallet up their ass, I won't work for them, period.
I have observed a wide spectrum of skills in people. At one extreme are people filled with book learning that do great basic research. At the other end are people who have learned it all by being hands-on. They get things to work but not always optimally. All of these people have their place. The danger comes, as you point out, when people with a lot of book learning think they have practical skills.


"The working model is not supported by the theory".

People with just practical knowledge can also get themselves in trouble. YouTube is littered with sincere inventors demonstrating their perpetual motion machines.

Yesterday, in the news, was a story of a physicist who wanted to invent a device to detect when his hand was near his face. He decided to do it with magnets. From what I could gather, he was using a magnetic sensor that closed a pair of contacts when it got near a magnet. Because of his implementation, the alarm went off when his hand was not near his face and went silent when it got near the magnets. OK, a basic mistake but telling in that he could not figure that out.

The really funny part was that he stuck the magnet up his nose. When he realized that one magnet wasn't enough, he stuck a second magnet up the other nostril. In short order, he had to rush to the Emergency Room where doctors were able to extract the two magnets that had clamped together and stopped blood flow in the area. He mentioned something about sticking to his books in the future...

Be well,

Rick