[One Idea Monday] Maven vs Expert

Akwaaba friends,

I’m sending this newsletter from my sickbed. Hanoi weather has not been kind to me in this homecoming trip. I’ve been sick for 10 out of 14 days I was in Vietnam. So please excuse my late response to your email replies 🙏 I cherish them a lot!

Here’s this week’s news:

1 Idea

Maven is a Yiddish word meaning a person with good knowledge or understanding of a subject.

There’s a difference between Maven and Expert.

Experts talk about cars because they love cars. Mavens talk about cars because they love you, and want to help you choose the right car.

Experts make you feel distant and lost in their jargon-packed explanations. Mavens make sure that you are following.

Experts are all about their intellectual satisfaction. Mavens are more socially motivated.

Sadly, academia (and society at large) confuse experts with good teachers. Some researchers are just better at researching than teaching. Some researchers should have never become teachers.

Just because someone has a PhD, does not mean they will be good teachers. It simply means they are good at learning and writing research papers.

Teachers should be socially motivated. They should be there because they love their students. They are Mavens.

1 blog

“Whose critique do I listen to?” is an important note-to-self that not every opinion matters.

1 quote

When you say you don’t have enough time, you’re actually saying that there are other things more important to you. ~ Matthew Dicks

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Thank you for being here! Stay healthy!

Akwaaba, Tung