2 New Great Quotes - ELITETRACK

If no one was an expert (using Bohr’s definition), advancement would be VERY slow. Most major science and technological advancements seem to be made by a select few at the tip of the iceberg.

Note- I think Bohr’s definition is very narrow.

Most science and technological advancements and breakthroughs occur by chance observation first. Bohr’s definition is narrow by choice, because he didn’t believe anyone was an expert and during his prime years this was especially true. The scientists of Bohr’s era made the greatest contributions to science and advancements in technology in the human race. We may look back and call them experts, but they weren’t at the time and they never called themselves experts. A scientist by definition cannot be an expert.

This is a big problem in the scientific R&D fields right now in both academic and corporate environments. Hardly anyone experiments first, everyone is too busy trying to prove the null hypothesis wrong. Look at the vast quantities of published research in the last 10 years (any field) and you’ll see way too many null hypothesis studies published which offer no new observations or insights. This what I meant by regurgitation in other threads. I could write more on this topic, but I am afraid Davan is going to jump in and make a fruitful topic such as this worthless.

So lets look at it from a standpoint of coaching which is what I believe Vern was trying to convey. So why does Vern point out Niels Bohr quote on experts? Experts have had to make every mistake possible or are aware of every mistake possible for a very limited field. In coaching this implies experience or coaching in a very specialized field such as curveball pitching coach, curveball hitting coach, free throw shooting coach, 60m acceleration coach, LJ approach coach, etc… An expert is selling you his knowledge of a part, but no discernible means to place that part into the context of the whole or he’s selling you his vast experience/knowledge of what shouldn’t be done and why and what happened when it was last done. Now lets look at Fermi’s quote through coaching goggles. If we make a change in workouts, training, etc. based on prior observation then apply it to an athlete and test (competition/practice test) what we observed previously and what we expected to occur did occur then we really did not make a discovery, but made a measurement on what we knew. A discovery in track and field coaching is akin to taking Usain Bolt and putting him in shot ring having him put the shot 70+ feet.

Taking to heart Vern’s other blog posts it seems Vern is trying to convey the following:

What Coach do you want to be or have? Don’t look for or become a coach that is an expert or only wants to measure or make discoveries. Look for or become a coach willing to make mistakes, account for those mistakes, learn from those mistakes, takes measurements, and occasionally makes a discovery. You become that coach by not being being an “Expert” and experimenting when necessary.