Wanderings – YouTube Won’t Make You a Sushi Chef – Or an Expert

A Japanese sushi chef, or itamae, can spend up to ten years learning their trade. The first two years of their apprenticeship are spent cleaning — not touching fish or rice, just scrubbing workspaces, washing dishes, and dealing with leftovers. The next three years are devoted to mastering rice (shari). The final five are spent as a wakiita, learning fish preparation. After a decade, they’re considered ready to become a head chef and open a restaurant of their own. Last week, I watched a YouTube video on making sushi, so now I can do it too.

That sounds ludicrous, or right out of an episode of The Simpsons. Of course, I can’t make properly crafted sushi yet — I have to watch at least five videos to get all the knowledge needed. Still sound silly? Good thing I am not fond of sushi. Look out, pasta!

All nonsense aside, learning a craft, a trade, or a vocation takes time, dedication, schooling, apprenticeship, and hard work. Yet in the past decade, I’ve observed a gradual cutting down of people who do specific jobs. Not just people in the trades — mechanics, carpenters, plumbers, and the like — but professions such as doctors, scientists, teachers, academics, artists, photographers, and yes, journalists. You’re an expert. I’m an expert. We’re all experts. Except we’re not.

Years ago, I finished the basement in our family home. I did much of the work myself, based on my knowledge. What I didn’t know, I looked up — but there were some tasks where I brought in experts in the trades. The electrician did what he needed to do, and so did the plumber. Should I have brought in a flooring person? A drywall person? A painter? I am reasonably competent at these tasks, but the time I took to complete the work was considerably longer than an expert would have needed. I was trying to save some money, so the quality of the work is subjective. My wife says the work is good — and as she is my most important critic, I’ll take that as a win.

Beyond home improvement, there is a large distrust of experts, and it’s not just about money — it’s about education. Many distrust experts because they are often the first people thrown under the bus when someone doesn’t like the answers received.

Case in point — teachers. When I was in Grade 10, I wanted to be a teacher, and thankfully I came to my senses by Grade 11. Just as I wouldn’t want to be a teenager in today’s world, I wouldn’t want to be a teacher. A good teacher has to be part-counsellor, part-mediator, part-therapist, and a teacher — all while managing their own personal life. But teachers are often vilified because they are employed by the government. During elections, teacher unions are called names, and the job is denigrated for cheap, 10-second sound bites. From personal experience, when a teacher raises an issue with a student, some parents refuse to consider that their child may have done anything wrong. It’s always the teacher’s fault, never the student’s.

Scientists are called corrupt for using facts that go against a theory someone read or thinks they saw on social media. Don’t ask them when they saw it, though. You can’t question their “truth” — how dare you contradict an ill-informed assumption.

Journalists are treated similarly. Why go to school for it, or work in the field, when you can read Bob Smith’s post on Facebook? Who even reads newspapers anymore? With an iPhone and a free website, anyone can be a journalist.

Maybe this stems from the overbearing influence of our neighbours to the south, or perhaps it reflects our need to take a moment to think before reacting. As a society, more people need to stop considering themselves experts when they have only partial knowledge. And more people need to trust that it is okay for someone with more education or experience than you to have the right answer. More critical thinking and less reactive thinking are needed — not just here, but in many areas. Experts aren’t bad just because you don’t agree with them.