Tag: experts

32,000 troops in New York Harbor

I just e-mailed a history expert in order to find a possible answer to two questions my mom and I had out of watching “Hamilton”.

1) How many men would have been aboard each ship?

2) How long was the journey from England to New York in 1776?

We wanted to know how many ships were in the harbor in order to produce 32,000 troops, as the line in the song says, and realized that we had no idea how big the ships even were and what their capacities were for men (and ammunition, etc.).

And that set of thoughts led us to wondering how long they had had to spend at sea.

And so, rather than put forth lots of effort in researching myself, I figured it smartest to reach out to an expert first, and doing further personal research second, if needed.

Why does this even matter?

Because we are total nerds in my family, and we care about things like this. 😛

I mean, what else would one be asking after watching “Hamilton”? Haha

Post-a-day 2020

Handing it off to a better expert…?

Do you ever wonder about the appropriate time to pass something on to someone else to do?  Not that you are feeling lazy, and just don’t feel like making those copies, and so you give them to an assistant to do.  But like, in high school, when a friend of mine’s trumpet teacher told him that he had taught my friend everything he had to offer him, and so it was time my friend went to a different and better trumpet teacher.  That kind of situation.  Do we know when to do that in our own lives, when it is time to pass something onward to someone better at whatever it is?

I especially wonder if it makes a difference on the task.  If we want dinner in a certain part of town, we might easily call up or message a particular friend for recommendations.  For an appropriate computer purchase, we might consult someone we know who is into computers.

And if we are the one consulted for something similar, we typically do our best to help out, and, I believe, recommend someone else to ask, if we feel our thoughts aren’t sufficient help.  Do I know where to go eat around there?  Well, there’s this and this, but they’re usually packed on this night of the week.  I would check with so-and-so – they probably know several better options.

But do we do this with difficult things?  Do we ask ourselves, regarding the harder things in life, if we are the one best suited to handle the question or situation?  Do we let other things get in the way of asking for help, of asking the right person?  Things like embarrassment, pride, fear… do they win in the short-term of the situation, and a mediocre result is the best we find in the long-term outcome of the situation?  I suppose this ties in perfectly with the question of Do we ask for help when we need help?  Do we even ask ourselves often and honestly enough – and then answer honestly enough – if we need help?

 

Just some thoughts in my space tonight…

Post-a-day 2017