3 pet peeves

It is old-man-shouting-at-clouds time.

“Get off my lawn, clouds! And stop mixing my metaphors!”

A bunch of years ago I started writing down my pet peeves, convinced that I would end up with a hefty list. ‘Peeves’, because, well that is what they are; and ‘pet’ because I would rather have them than solve them.

The list never grew to a significant size, so perhaps it is time to release the few I have gathered into the wild. Here goes:

Peeve 1. Histories of countries that go back considerably further than the country could reasonably be said to have existed. Neither historians nor encyclopaedians need be nationalists, and if they are, they should state so upfront.

I can make an exception for histories of the terroritory that a country currently and accidentally occupies, as long as those histories are rewritten everytime a border changes, i.e. every 5 or 10 years or so.

I could give you an example, but … it is all the countries, I am afraid.

Peeve 2. The use of the word masterpiece to describe anything other than a work or a coherent series of works made by an apprentice to prove that they have mastered the profession they have been training for.

I am willing to forgive the entire lack of an apprenticeship because, honestly, who does those anymore? I draw the line at one masterpiece per artist though.

Peeve 3. Something bothers me about tips – i.e. nodules of knowledge, specifically the suggestion that experts in a field are keeping small, easy to grasp bits of knowledge or skill close to their chest, but these nodules, once revealed, immediately make the recipient productively skillful or knowledgeable.

That is not how knowledge or skill works.

That is not to say that genuine tips do not exist. If I see someone struggling with mastering a certain skill and it takes me back to my own problems learning the same thing and what I needed to do to get over the hump… sure, I can share that story. That would be a genuine tip.

Any listicle that claims to contain tips does not contain tips, though.

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