Expert Opinion

[merrimacga]

I wouldn't say it is necessarily wrong to use any particular terminology, whether that be expert, expertise, specialist, knowledgeable, enthusiast, etc. However, I do agree such terms need to be considered in context and that there are probably no VM experts specifically, though there are people who have been researching the VM long enough to be considered very knowledgeable. There are certainly many experts and other professionals and also enthusiasts in the various sciences related to VM research. How knowledgeable they are in general, how much expertise they have in the sciences they apply to their VM research, to what extent they apply their primary expertise versus other minor knowledge areas, and how long they have been researching the VM are all things one should consider before lending weight to their opinions and how much weight one should lend to those opinions. For those who have been researching the VM for a long time, one should also consider whether they have changed their opinions over time and to what extent and in what ways. Certainly, we might lend less weight to the opinions of VM researchers who frequently flip flop between two or more divergent opinions, for example.

However, the VM requires an holistic approach, which, despite all the meeting of minds here on this site, is still sorely lacking in VM research. We cannot hope to solve the VM unless and until we come up with a solution for it as a whole and not just plant identification or text meaning or material composition or provenance, etc. Solutions for any one particular part of the VM must be in line with solutions for the rest of it.

This more than any other reason is why I agree that there are no VM experts. While some have tried an holistic approach, I would not consider any of them to be VM experts. It may well be there won't be any VM experts, as such, unless and until a solution to the VM as a whole is found.