Evan Shapiro's Blog, page 8

Stephen on the road to nowhere

Stephen on the road to nowhere

Cam on the road to nowhere

Cam on the road to nowhere

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In the streets

This morning I saw a post from a teacher I know in Nepal. It showed two young children sleeping in the streets of Kathmandu. I found the image heartbreaking. I don’t know who these children are, if they have been helped or if they continue to live life on the streets. Having worked on projects that help disadvantaged children in Nepal I know I have helped some children and I know other people doing the same, but here are two children that I can see but have no way of helping. It seems to me that if collectively we put the rights of children at the forefront of every decision made, and I mean every decision, then this situation would change. It sounds idealistic but surely it is something that as a species we could get our heads around. I don’t need to imagine if these were my children or not. To me it feels like they are my children. They are human and I am human, it is no more complex than that. They are young and vulnerable and deserve protection and nurturing, not the opposite.

Jamie - on the road to nowhere

Jamie - on the road to nowhere

I’m no expert but…

Ok, so there are a few things that I am actually an expert at, but there are many more fields of expertise where my skills and experience fall well short of expert classification. Fortunately my opinion and enthusiasm remarkably fill in the gaps. What you will discover here, over time, are things that I’m in no way an expert of. I don’t feel the need to point out my true areas of expertise, as they will be uncovered as an obvious by product of this exercise. For now I’d like to explore what an expert is. According to the dictionary, an expert is a person who is very knowledgeable about or skillful in a particular area. For our purposes an expert is someone that has an informed opinion. Why mess with the dictionary you say. Well why not I say. Was the dictionary always the same? No it has developed and evolved over time. Regardless I’m happy with the definition of expert for the time being. I’m no expert but… therefore refers to a common phrase where by the person speaking the said words in that order is declaring that they are not an expert however their opinion that will soon follow the words ‘I’m no expert but’ are deemed by them to be far greater and wiser than a true expert. Herein lies what could only be described as irony. Unless of course you’d like to describe it as something else.

Daz reading Road to Nowhere

Daz reading Road to Nowhere