I get a bit nervous when anyone declares, “I am a master of < insert knowledge or skill here>”. It all depends on what they mastered, and what mastery means.
I’ll agree that you can ‘master’ certain relatively simple skill sets. I have a friend who considers himself a ‘master of the financial calculator’. While it is true that he can figure out just about anything with his HP BII with speed and accuracy, I rarely call him to tap into his mastery. I’ve got a spreadsheet that figures out that stuff for me. Mastering something that is not valued by others (or can be replaced) is not really worth ‘mastering’.
Even with the stuff that is worth mastery, some people use mastery as a mark of goal achievement – and that’s not mastery. Hillary and Norgay didn’t ‘master’ Mt. Everest – they got to the peak. The things worth mastering can’t be. They tend to be far too complex and ever-changing. Declaring mastery for some means they feel they never have to learn more, or do more, or work to maintain their skill or knowledge. Their mastery is fleeting, and can be dangerous if others rely on their mastery (Do you want your cardiologist to have declared mastery a decade ago?)
Seeking mastery is admirable. Achieving mastery (of anything worth mastery) is impossible.
