Show and tell
In my day, we didn’t demonstrate knowledge to our peers. No moments of public exposition to the class. Actually, we did stand and read aloud from the appropriate page in our readers, but that was more to shame the illiterate. Hard times. Also, we never talked about what happened at home. What happens at home stays at home, giving way to “what happens in Vegas”.
That tradition (or lack thereof) leaves me amazed at the wide range of subjects that are presented on YT. Self-acclaimed experts. Yes, there are some that do master their matter, but in short contrast, there’s a whole subset of citizens with mess than rudimentary mastery. The man who demonstrate how his new leaves-blower can blow leaves is a personal favorite. Followed closely by the person who explained that lifting a full container of water over head is harder than dividing the burden into a series of smaller containers. My mother taught me that now, except that she called it a “lazy man’s load”.
Let’s me fair, and clear; public speaking is hareder than we think. Or don’t, as most politicians are wont to show. Mastery of your topic takes training, and hours of practice at home. Most of us are willing to explain everything, until we make it to school age. Then we learn that being a fool comes with a price. I measure my words, because I learned that being called the Dictionary wasn’t a compliment on the playground. If you guessed that I went on to a career in education to win the prize.
