On Sun, 05 Jan 2014 23:59:23 +0000, Stephen wrote:

> My understanding is that people will accept the big picture as described
> by the "experts" because they don't feel competent to question it. But
> for smaller projects they will talk it to death. As anyone can build a
> "bikeshed".

Ultimately, the two explanations aren't that different.  It's about 
peoples' feeling of competence, and that they need to contribute 
something, so they do when there's something they feel they can 
legitimately have an opinion about.  I may not have an opinion on the 
merits of using fir vs. pine, but I can have an opinion about what colour 
it is, and since I can have one, I should so I can be seen to be 
participating in the discussion.

The things that require a lower amount (or no) expertise on tend to draw 
more discussion than the things that require a higher degree of 
expertise, so you end up with a larger discussion about what colour the 
hypothetical bikeshed should be than about whether (say) the ground is 
solid enough to support the weight of the shed and its contents.

Or indeed about the structure of a house vs. the shed in the back yard.

> Just like cooking. Everyone will tell you how to cook and may feal that
> they could open a restaurant because they can cook for a dinner party.

Yep.

Which is why so many restaurants fail - cooking is a small portion of 
running that kind of business.  Obviously you have to be competent at 
purchasing, pricing, marketing, portion sizing, and a ton of other things.

Jim

-- 
"I learned long ago, never to wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and 
besides, the pig likes it." - George Bernard Shaw

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