DGDevin wrote:

Pete C. wrote:

Alas, "Those of us who know what we're doing" often includes folks
who only think they know what they doing, as my uncles in the Fire
Dept. who investigated fires could tell you.

No, "those of us who know what we're doing" expressly excludes those
who don't.

If we had a dollar for every person who was sure he knew what he was doing
but ended up in the hospital anyway, we could throw a hell of a party.

Look, you might indeed know what you're doing when it comes to wiring your
house. But on a larger scale plenty of people *believe* they know what
they're doing--sometimes they're right, sometimes they're wrong. That's why
we have codes and inspectors, to catch the ones who thought they had it
right but really didn't. It isn't good enough to ask the individual if he
knows what he's doing, there needs to be an independent authority because
there are millions of people out there who equate owning the manual with
expertise (and I don't mean that as a dig at you). Hell, I convince myself
I know what I'm doing every time I buy a new power tool; I generally
discover I was wrong.

When there is a legitimate test for that "independent authority" to pass
other than political patronage then it might have some validity, but at
the same time any person should be able to go to the town hall, take
that same test, pass and opt out of permits and inspections.

For me, I'm quite happy to take care of my own business, without someone
who frequently knows far less than I do sticking their nose in it.