Here are two memory distorted bits of wisdom from one of my favorite professors at the University of Maryland, Dr. William Nickels.  Both points are entertaining and remarkably useful.

1) “Almost everybody, almost all the time, is almost always wrong.” This statement works well to counterbalance our natural tendency to believe whatever we hear.  I always like to say that beliefs rush into a vacuum.  This means that if I know nothing about a topic, I’m very likely to believe the first thing that I hear about said topic, and consciously or unconsciously begin to compare competing thoughts to the “truth” that I learned first.  What’s more, I might immediately associate the person who gave me this first glorious bit of information as an expert on the subject!  Remembering that almost everybody almost all the time is almost always wrong should help us to keep an open mind for opposing viewpoints.  This, in turn, should allow us to form opinions based on our own judgment rather than forming beliefs in the same way that mortgages are filed in the courthouse…first in time, first in line!

2) How to become an expert on any subject:  (This one fits in very nicely with the first topic.)  In order to become an expert on any subject, all you need to do is “keep a file”.  That’s it.  If you’re interested in a topic, you learn everything you can about it.  You cut out magazine articles on the subject, you bookmark relevant websites, you buy books on the subject, etc.  In this way, you can literally achieve encyclopedic knowledge on the subject.  And if whomever you’re speaking to doesn’t know about point #1, you can sell them anything. ;-)

Seriously though, it makes perfect sense.  If we want to become experts in a topic like, I don’t know…investing in stocks, it stands to reason that we have to do a lot of reading and absorbing information in order to move from a novice to an expert.  Any street fighter will tell you that book smarts ain’t common sense.  True expertise is forged when the fusion of our book smarts and battle scars allow us to succeed where others fail.