When we are young, we tend to think that adults know it all – teachers, parents, doctors, scientists, politicians, etc. – these are people who know what’s what. They are all experts in their respective fields and have experience behind them. One day, after we have studied hard and worked our way up, we will also be wise and all-knowing.
Of course, as we grow up, we never get this feeling of being wise and all knowing, but we still keep this view of professionals, on the whole. We trust doctors with our health, politicians with our government and financiers with our money. We believe that the world in which these people operate is a logical, scientific structure with rules and boundaries. Their expertise and experience allows them to make sure you stay healthy, employed, housed and have cash for a few luxuries once in a while.
Ok – here’s the unspoken truth: None of these people (well, very few) actually really know what they are doing. The system they are a part of is not as described in the previous paragraph, it is one of chaos, greed, gambling, lies, fear, guessing and sheer bluff. It is a miracle that the World doesn’t collapse about our ears far more often.
You only have to think about this for a few seconds to see that it is true. Draw on your own experience – how many times have you not been able to admit that you did not have a clue about what you were supposed to be doing? I rest my case 😉
Scary though, isn’t it?
Permanently puzzled 
I wonder who this is levelled at? Local or international…. ;0)
LOL 🙂 Well, it starts local, then spreads to international, and without a doubt, then proceeds to universal 😉
So could end up in uranus?
;0)
I’ll get my coat…
I’ve NEVER had a bloody clue what I’m supposed to be doing!
….but then again I’m neither wise nor all-knowing…..and as for professional….
So true! Doctors especially can come across as smug, supercilious bastards. So they can remember shit they’ve read, Woo, big deal. Dustmen do a vital job, without them the spread of disease would be rampant as rubbish rots on the streets. You never see a smug dustman. As for politicians? George Bush says it all.
I can’t recall my first memory but I have had no idea what I am doing since that first conscious thought. I’m just amazed I got this far!!!
Barry, you are so right. And I love the Dubya quote – says it all far more eloquently than I ever could 🙂