Maybe so, Lynn, but to my mind that's a dangerous path to wander down. Better informed than the general populace we may be, but there's a big difference between us and, say, amateur birders or astronomers. Their discoveries are primarily observational in nature; spotting some spot of light that shouldn't be where it is, or seeing a bird that doesn't make sense in its location. Once that's found, and the necessary checks to make sure that there's no mistake are made, they're sitting pretty. We, however, are making no direct observations and much of our "effort," such as it is, is devoted to qualitative predictions of the future. That's a fuzzy, vague endeavor, at the best of times.
Now, mind, in saying that I don't mean at all to belittle either Neven or the intelligent, well informed, and thoughtful people who frequent his blog and these forums; both have taught me an awful lot, and I've nothing but the highest respect for them. But we should be very, very careful about dubbing ourselves "experts." That can go very, very wrong, as witness the comments section on, say, every single WUWT post.
