Think Tank Analysts and Site Staff

[LeveragedBuyout]

Someone with less than 200 posts to his credit, and one month of membership........ you certainly are spazzy........ perhaps you deserve my title more than me?

Btw, what's your field of interest, or in your case, 'field of expertise'? If you'd be so generous to inform us... take your time and make it as detailed as your critique / "analysis" of other TT's and JTT's!

Thank you. Your post proves my point in a very precise way: you have formed a conclusion about my competence based on my join date and title. This is an example of why it is important that the TTA designation is backed up by content. TTAs that do not contribute quality content periodically probably don't need to be TTAs, or at least, don't need the power to determine if someone else's contribution is high quality or low quality.

I do not seek any titles or special privileges here. In fact, I take the Sherman Pledge in that regard. That said, I believe my request for a list of TTAs and their areas of expertise is an eminently reasonable request. It's unclear why so many have taken exception to that.

 

[MastanKhan]

As for formal qualifications, no one has the resources to verify international credentials, so the best option is to judge by the content of the post rather than any specific claims. I personally don't give two hoots about academic credentials. I decide based on actual performance. But that's just me.

Hi,

You background is your judge for your qualification---. Thus the content of your post is meaningless if you don't have any kind of experience---credentials identify you---who you are---it authenticates what you are saying.

It is THE world standard---when you are on a pedastal---you introduce yourself---who you are---where you coming from---why you say what you are saying.

If you want to learn from the world---then you need to get out of this " i personally don't give two hoots " kind of mindset----.

How many on this board would want to know the credentials of the doctor treating their young child in serious condition?

Thank you for the answer.

 

[LeveragedBuyout]

I decided the compile a list by myself, since the request seemed to generate so much push-back, for some reason. Please see the first post of the thread (Think Tank Analysts) for my list. Contributions welcome.

 

[OrionHunter]

As for formal qualifications, no one has the resources to verify international credentials, so the best option is to judge by the content of the post rather than any specific claims. I personally don't give two hoots about academic credentials. I decide based on actual performance. But that's just me.

How about the title of 'Professionals'? How many have served in the Armed Forces and for how long? Have they taken part in any operations? Have they any personal experience in taking part in Counter Insurgency Ops/LICO?

I've seen a couple who say that their so-and-so (Like father, uncle, cousin etc) have been in the Army. So? Does that qualify them to become experts and deemed 'professionals' out here? There are guys who have served in the defence forces for years and have first hand experience of battle, but have not been conferred the title of 'Professional'. Strange, what?

I wonder how titles are given out here on PDF?

 

[Developereo]

How about the title of 'Professionals'? How many have served in the Armed Forces and for how long? Have they taken part in any operations? Have they any personal experience in taking part in Counter Insurgency Ops/LICO?

I've seen a couple who say that their so-and-so (Like father, uncle, cousin etc) have been in the Army. So? Does that qualify them to become experts and deemed 'professionals' out here? There are guys who have served in the defence forces for years and have first hand experience of battle, but have not been conferred the title of 'Professional'. Strange, what?

I wonder how titles are given out here on PDF?

Professional title is not voted on, as far as I know. Management decides who is a professional.

 

[janon]

Hi,

You background is your judge for your qualification---. Thus the content of your post is meaningless if you don't have any kind of experience---credentials identify you---who you are---it authenticates what you are saying.

It is THE world standard---when you are on a pedastal---you introduce yourself---who you are---where you coming from---why you say what you are saying.

If you want to learn from the world---then you need to get out of this " i personally don't give two hoots " kind of mindset----.

How many on this board would want to know the credentials of the doctor treating their young child in serious condition?

Thank you for the answer.

I think you ought to make a distinction between the real world and the intertubes, for the sake of pragmatism. Also make a distinction between subjects that require expertise and those that don't.

In the real world, the professional training and qualifications of a person matter for him/her to be considered an authority figure. So a mechanical/aerospace engineer's word would have more weight on the issue of aircraft design than a surgeon's, while I would not want to be medically treated or operated upon by the former. On the intertubes, for one thing, real world credentials are difficult to verify. As the famous quip goes, "On the internet, nobody knows you are a dog."

Another issue to understand is that on this forum, many subjects are discussed, and not all of them require specialized training. So if a person makes very insightful posts about geopolitics, he could be a respected member even if he is not a career diplomat or politician.

 

[Developereo]

Hi,

You background is your judge for your qualification---. Thus the content of your post is meaningless if you don't have any kind of experience---credentials identify you---who you are---it authenticates what you are saying.

It is THE world standard---when you are on a pedastal---you introduce yourself---who you are---where you coming from---why you say what you are saying.

If you want to learn from the world---then you need to get out of this " i personally don't give two hoots " kind of mindset----.

How many on this board would want to know the credentials of the doctor treating their young child in serious condition?

Thank you for the answer.

We are not talking here about anything that carries a liability and requires certification.

All we are doing is exchanging opinions, mostly about subjective issues like politics, history and the economy (highly technical discussion excepted). And I don't give two hoots about some guy who has an (alleged) degree on the subject. Because I know very well how academic degrees are attained. It doesn't mean they are worthless, but they need to be backed up by actual performance.

I have worked with 24 year olds who were some of the smartest people I knew. And I have worked with 40 year olds with Ivy League degrees who couldn't think their way out of a paper bag.

Do you know Stanford Business School? It is one of the top, if not the top, business school in the US. They are famous for rejecting straight-A valedictorian applicants, and giving admission to some guy who ran his own business for ten years, or a housewife who ran a home-business for several years.

A piece of paper is only ONE criterion for judging the validity of someone's opinion. The lazy readers relies on a piece of paper to tell him what to believe. The smart reader uses his own brain to differentiate junk from wisdom.

 

[OrionHunter]

Professional title is not voted on, as far as I know. Management decides who is a professional.

Exactly! So how do they decide? That's the question.

 

[janon]

A title is an acknowledgement that a poster has risen above trolling and useless posts and has demonstrated the capacity to conduct rational debates.
...

LOL, really? Does that apply for TTAs?

We are not talking here about anything that carries a liability and requires certification.

All we are doing is exchanging opinions, mostly about subjective issues like politics, history and the economy (highly technical discussion excepted). And I don't give two hoots about some guy who has an (alleged) degree on the subject. Because I know very well how academic degrees are attained. It doesn't mean they are worthless, but they need to be backed up by actual performance.

I have worked with 24 year olds who were some of the smartest people I knew. And I have worked with 40 year olds with Ivy League degrees who couldn't think their way out of a paper bag.

Do you know Stanford Business School? It is one of the top, if not the top, business school in the US. They are famous for rejecting straight-A valedictorian applicants, and giving admission to some guy who ran his own business for ten years, or a housewife who ran a home-business for several years.

A piece of paper is only ONE criterion for judging the validity of someone's opinion. The lazy readers relies on a piece of paper to tell him what to believe. The smart reader uses his own brain to differentiate junk from wisdom.

I agree with you here, as far as this forum is concerned. However, I feel that the title of "professional" should only be given to professionals.

 

[Developereo]

LOL, really? Does that apply for TTAs?

Broadly speaking, yes.

Like I wrote, everyone's human and people will slip once in a while, but the voting pool for nomination and selection is very wide in terms of political tilt.

 

[OrionHunter]

I agree with you here, as far as this forum is concerned. However, I feel that the title of "professional" should only be given to professionals.

Some 'Professionals' here haven't gone beyond the experience of seeing war movies! And they are considered experts in warfare, strategy and tactics and conferred the honor of 'Professional!'! Jeeez!

 

[MilSpec]

Thank you. Your post proves my point in a very precise way: you have formed a conclusion about my competence based on my join date and title. This is an example of why it is important that the TTA designation is backed up by content. TTAs that do not contribute quality content periodically probably don't need to be TTAs, or at least, don't need the power to determine if someone else's contribution is high quality or low quality.

I do not seek any titles or special privileges here. In fact, I take the Sherman Pledge in that regard. That said, I believe my request for a list of TTAs and their areas of expertise is an eminently reasonable request. It's unclear why so many have taken exception to that.

Browse through technical threads and see the contribution of tta/mods and derive your own conclusions.

 

[Manticore]

We had a list of think tanks & juniot think tanks in the previous forum format. After the software update, the appearance changed and now we have a fairly stable upgrade. I dont know if the members tab can support two more options or not as right now they are used by most positive/ negative rated members. Admin might be able to do this.

However I agree with you on the need of the list however openly posting personal info is not something every member would do.

The reason why we started juniorTTs and ratings has been posted by me several times - these steps are to increase the quality of the forum and to spot good posters rather quickly.

 

[Rashid Mahmood]

It's better to remove the "titles" altogether. It makes no difference anyway.
The quality, language, attitude of the comment speaks of the member it self.

 

[LeveragedBuyout]

It's better to remove the "titles" altogether. It makes no difference anyway.
The quality, language, attitude of the comment speaks of the member it self.

Well said.

Browse through technical threads and see the contribution of tta/mods and derive your own conclusions.

That's what this issue has defaulted to. Unfortunately, with approximately 50 think tank analysts that I've identified so far, it will take some time to identify each TTA's area of expertise. In the real world, one has an internal directory to at least list in which department each employee sits, or which sector an analyst covers. For defence.pk, it's left to guesswork. That diminishes the usefulness of the TTA as a source to reach out to when input would be helpful, since we don't know whom to contact about what.