The Lost Art of Becoming Good at Things
expertenough.com
expertenough.com
When I do need the internet I usually just head down to a local coffee shop to check emails (usually twice a day), download API docs, etc. Plus I get a nice break and get to have a nice coffee. You'll be surprised how much you are not missing out by delaying emails and twitter checks. I've found my productivity has increased significantly since I'm less distracted with twitter updates, chat messages, incoming mails, etc. And of course, for emergency internet connectivity, I always have my iPhone + 3G. The iPhone is great, since it is perfect for emergency look ups of information but a hindrance enough to not aimlessly browse the web. I also like that HN doesn't have a nice mobile compatible style sheet ;-)
When I claim to be an expert, I just mean that I used to be pretty good at finding stuff I wanted to find. Google is the tool I have overused, ignoring better, newer filters as they have come wayside.
So I feel like just turning the whole damned thing off and learning the "slow" way might be the new way to be the fast way.
2015, want to find it fast? Flip open the index of a hard cover and start scanning.
I've gained a lot of knowledge through Internet research on various subjects (I cancelled cable awhile back).
It's more difficult, but I've learned how to just stop messing around and focusing on my work.
In consulting this is a huge win for experts, since my industry is littered with people who could largely be considered incompetent. So I don't see this as being a lost art.
Plus, is expertise considered an art? IMO it's more a science or a craft.
The danger of course is that the entire industry could start to be considered poorly, mean less overall business, and less demand for actual experts.
It's in an industry's long-term self interests to improve the quality of their output (quality meaning whatever feeds the highest demand for that industry's product).
I'm not disagreeing that these type of experts exist. The JS/HTML5 field is also littered with incompetence as well. I get the feeling that the OP is trying to say that we culturally don't advocate these type of people anymore and thus it's a "lost art". I disagree. And for every hundred incompetent people, there is one writing a new boilerplate or book. My point is that this one person doesn't exist without the other hundred. It's unfeasible to suggest that all 100 should be experts and that there was a time when this was true.
...oh God, now we're getting philosophical...
Time is valuable, time to treat it as such.
I believe that in order to stay motivated to become an expert, you need to have a clear goal. Why do you want to go the gym everyday? Why would you spend hours after office researching and learning about new technology? If you can't define the why, you will probably fail.
What I see more and more of these days is (in the Midwest of the U.S. anyways) parents are not teaching the value of effort to their children. Their children end up being lazy and entitled, never knowing what it truly takes to be good at anything.