@alfmoonspace said in Unskilled and Unaware.:
how does one find the truth?
You discover truth by performing the work. Experience. Just as the phrase I coined many years ago, which is displayed on our website: Experience is the fire in which theory burns and truth emerges.
What you are speaking of is something different, and that is figuring out how to decide who to listen to. That is significantly harder, because there are many people in the precision rifle world who simply do not adhere to a moral code or value set. They are smooth talkers, have all the right connections, and may even have a lot of experience. Long on buzz words and long resumes that will seem extremely impressive. Maybe they are. Maybe it's just the kind of person you're looking for. Only you can decide.
Time tends to reveal the truth of things. I have mentored many shooters in the past. I'm presently mentoring several. While I have a huge number of customers that ask advice, I'm not able to "mentor" them because the flow of information from me to them is still encumbered with trust issues. Among those shooters I'm mentoring that trust my word, I tend to take great lengths to show them my work. I prove to them that I've done my diligence and I'm not offering my advice lightly or without proof. Yet even those shooters are not ready to hear the answers from time to time. Often it isn't until much after I've given them the answer that they realize the gravity of what I said or demonstrated.
That's a long winded way of telling you that I do not have an answer for you as it pertains to trying to decide who to listen to. It takes a keen intellect and a significant portion of instinct to avoid the snake oil salesmen among us. ... and there are as many snake oil salesmen as there are trees in the world. I pay the price for those shameful people every single day. Were it not for them, people would be much quicker to accept what I was telling them. If not at first, certainly after evidence of my experience were provided. Just as with all other relationships, there's a certain amount of risk involved in listening to someone else. Time will show you who truly cares for your interests. So manage your risk as best you can. True experts are not afraid of showing their work.
The friday before all of our training classes, I make it a point to shoot a few rounds for those in attendance. My talents, or lack of them, is laid bare for all to see. This is why I quite possibly have more documented and photographed shots posted online than any person living. I can't be certain that it's true, but it certainly may be. Those here on gunhive, and other forums before it, have witnessed a massive number of my shots in the last decade. I'm not shy about my true performance and capabilities. If you find a person in authority on a subject that is willing to show-and-tell, show their work in that way... you'll likely find someone you can trust. There are not many.
