The only problem with that is that the reader directly assumes, unless otherwise told that the author/speaker does know WTF he is talking about. Really, why else would he write a book about a subject if he had no experience with it?  That's kinda the thought.

Perfect example- I had to change out my inverter for our alternate energy system. Old one was working fine on the DC side and was inverting to 115AC just fine, but the AC input from genset side was not taking power. I went through the manual, all the meters and tests, etc. Asked around, best answer was "wow you still have an SW4024, you know we are scraping the bottom of the barrel on those parts." Damn. Alright so I pop for a new inverter. Talked with the rep, told him I was looking for something simple to hookup- here's what connections my SW4024 has, are these hookups identical? Sure. OK, drop the coin.

Get it in, get the heavy sucker mounted, DC side good to go, AC out good to go, AC in from genset connections good to go. Genset started, inverter says "qualifying AC" for about 20 minutes. RTFB right? Did that, nada. Thinking to myself- "The old one needed a comm wire from the auto start murphy switch on genset, but where to hook that to the new?" Call up rep, he's not in. Screw it call the manufacturer, fifteen prompts and 3 people later I get Fred. Fred is a tech geek so I figure my chances are 50/50. Fred is consulting manual, referring to manual but not giving me straight answer. Fred finally admits not knowing his butt from an underground bunker... I ask Fred if he has ever INSTALLED one of these. Silence, "well we play around with them in the lab."

HUGE difference between "playing around with something in the lab" and real world applications.

The problem is- "Fred" could have simply told me that UPFRONT and I would have said "Ok thanks for your time Fred" and saved myself a bunch of BS.

We encounter that on the net and survival realm with people regurgitating info that isn't correct, is way outdated, etc. Kinda like the "use handwarmers instead of oxygen absorbers, some six hundred lb. guy that packed two buckets on youtube told me this" Really? Well damn, wonder why the professionals don't use handwarmers???

Basically what I'm saying is that when people don't know WTF they are talking about but the pride/ego issues don't allow them to say "hey listen I'm new to this", they are MISLEADING PEOPLE. Joe Blow NewGuy has no idea and doesn't really have the discernment yet to realize 600 lb. guy on youtube talking about hand warmers has no real long term experience storing food other than around his midline.....

Essentially, authors/writers/teachers have a responsibility to the audience. Can/will someone screw up? Yes. And let's be clear I'm not talking about stupid crap like is 9mm better than .45? AK vs. AR, etc. those are debates and are open to interpretation of the user. The crazy stuff like poor planning ideas, incorrect info on important topics like food storage, etc. that's what I'm referring to.

Can everyone be truly well rounded when it comes to skill sets? No, but you can and should always be learning. I flat out suck on edible and medicinal plants, my auto mechanics are mediocre at best, I've only made soap a couple times, I've only sutured on humans a couple times and the results were none too pretty LOL You get the idea. We ALL have something to "grow" in, but it's important to recognize that and by all means don't put yourself out there as a wine maker if you don't know about yeasts, etc.

What I've noticed is that people tend to put authors and "experts" on a pedestal. That brings unrealistic expectations and to be honest is very immature. There has been training instructors that I've seen people damn near worship, that when you really paid attention, you saw that they were learning themselves also.