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The Open Minded Detectorist?


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Good thoughtful post. People are funny things & we all think we are smarter than we probably are on somethings. On the other hand, we are all more capable than we realize.

 I, like you, try to learn at each opportunity. That is a big part of the fun in anything. Detecting has so many facets it is hard to be bored.

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2 hours ago, GB_Amateur said:

(A) big obstacle to the willingness to learn is the urge to present yourself as always already informed. The philosopher Jonathan Lear calls this attitude knowingness.

Knowingness. An encapsulation of an entire human weakness in one word that I did not realize even had a word. I have surely done this many times, and embarrassed myself on more than one occasion in the process. A difficult thing to resist some days still, most especially when pretty girls are watching.

I have now reached the age where pretty girls do not watch so much, and I care less, but the sting of catching myself in it remains in memory. 

For me, metal detecting has become almost a form of meditation. A thing that I enjoy the simple practice of for no more reason than that the physical act of doing the thing is pleasurable. It is tough now to accumulate much value in terms of time and money spent, usually I do not even make gas money with my detector, but the desire to do it stays. Now in the winter when no detecting is to be done, it is fun to read about it.

This is a lovely thread GB, I hope many will contribute in your spirit.

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GB, I've given up on trying to explain or believe that I know the reason why things sound like they do. I now think there are so many different ground scenarios that are possible and some perhaps even sound the same as others but for a totally different reason. All I listen for now is enough good info to make me want to investigate the target. Even then I still find myself digging very iffy signals. lol 

my knowingness is knowing I don't have a clue.😂  But I'm having fun!

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GB - 

I've tried the experimental settings both ways, before and after a find. Meaning sometime i use my regular settings and after finding a probable target, i experiment with other modes and/or sub-settings and see how the target responds. Perhaps an adjustment to a setting will improve the signal/response. Or maybe make it worse providing some validation to the setting(s) I'm using.

When a new detector comes out, most everybody is in a learning phase as the detector goes through the user shakedown and slowly best practices begin to emerge. Each of us can validate / test them for ourselves for our given sites and come up with our own best practices.

As for Knowingness, there's a thousand lifetimes of knowledge to gain, most of the time I'm trying to stay two steps ahead of being on the list for the Years' Best Darwin Award. 😉

 

Rich

 

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This is what I have learned. So far.

No matter how much you know about something , there is plenty you probably don't know yet ... 

And hands on experience plus studying  beats out just studying  x10 . 

I've mentioned before the parallels I've seen between my old world and the world here at DP. 

Well ,  

 

I always had a goal in my pro sound career and worked towards it since my tween years.  Once I finally got my foot in the door ... I  had an idea of what I needed to learn to get to that goal and always tried to work towards it .  The learning curve just to keep up with new tech was vertical , but that aside there was the science and math plus learning how to use the gear  and setting it up the best way possible for each venue..  

No party in the band rooms after (or before) a show. (that got me nowhere , real fast)

I'd fire up the sound system and experiment and read through the trades during any spare time I had . 

And EVERY time I thought I was getting close to "knowing" oh say 80% ,  I'd run across some little detail that opened a whole new world of things I never thought of before immediately moving my progress to less than 50% , sometimes much less LOL. I wouldn't expect to even get to 50% on ANY subject after all that.

This happened more than once before I retired still knowing I'd probably never get to even 80% again.........

So now here I am with my detector and seeing skills of some of you on here I know this without a doubt , 30%,, maybe skuh kuh kuh kuh kuh 😜  Probably won't last long enough to get to even 50% of where many of you here are .  !   But I'm working towards it. 

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On 1/5/2023 at 1:33 PM, GB_Amateur said:

First off, metal detecting isn't a college class.  Some people use it as a temporary escape from whatever (job, family commitments, etc.) and for the most part I see nothing wrong with that.  Others (myself included) need more.  I enjoy the "thrill of the find" as well as the broader "thrill of the chase".  But those don't come on every hunt and even on the best hunts only once or if real lucky, twice per hour.  My brain wants other challenges and trying to figure out what's going on -- why those noises and VDI's? -- is also valuable for me in both the short term and long term.  So the above excerpt is relevant to me and hopefully some of you.

Nailed it here, GB.

For me, it's about both the escape and the challenge...and with detecting, sometimes there is even a tangible, valuable reward during or after completing the escape/refresh and challenge. (Or at least the tantilizing promise thereof -- that's the biggest selling point of the hobby, IMHO.)

Also 100% in agreement with (and 200% guilty of) the concept of "knowingness". Part of correcting that mind-set is a mixture of experience, humbleness, and open-mindedness.  But dang it sure burns to feel like you really, really know something and have someone poke a hole in that balloon!

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I like the nerdy side of detecting. I also like using what I have learned through research and testing and put it to use in the field but I also find that those tests we all do and scenarios we create with nails laid out like some sort of bone readings and test gardens full of finds at various and often random depths rarely play out in the real world.

Experience in the field is the best teacher but never hurts to have a few helpful suggestions from others that have done that. This is one hobby that no matter how much you may think you know and how much experience you think you have you will always discover something new.

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  • 1 month later...
On 1/5/2023 at 5:30 PM, Tometusns said:

GB, I've given up on trying to explain or believe that I know the reason why things sound like they do. I now think there are so many different ground scenarios that are possible and some perhaps even sound the same as others but for a totally different reason. All I listen for now is enough good info to make me want to investigate the target. Even then I still find myself digging very iffy signals. lol 

my knowingness is knowing I don't have a clue.😂  But I'm having fun!

Tom-----Now I can relate to that!!! lol

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  • 2 months later...

If you need an impossible job done, Don't give it to someone who knows it can't be done. Give it to someone who doesn't know it can't be done.  

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