First, as noted in other threads, I'm no more qualified than the next noob. However, to an extent, I have been accused by others of being an autodidact more than once and learning at a geometric rate, especially with complex dynamics.
I'm not trying to toot my own horn, but you did ask.
When I get mentally stuck on a subject, I'll stay stuck on it until I can figure it out.
Where I get my info:
I've literally watched every cut test video on YouTube, all of them, along with virtually every other related video I can find, the good ones more than a few times. Larrin's knife steel nerds website has gone a long way to providing insight and answers and his Patreon has a lot of good info too. This forum has been a wealth of info and I've lurked for longer than I've been a member. The same is true with the Spyderco forum.
With all kinds of wrong information out there, I have done some limited cut testing to prove/disprove various things and find a firm basis in reality.
Beyond that, what started it all, is my stubborn determination to use a knife at work. I'm in the furniture industry and the cardboard that's used is no joke. Its thick, dense, and very dirty. I'm sure some of it technically isnt cardboard. I'm not a "hard" user as I consider it, however I'm definitely a volume user with the amount cut in a typical day.
What I really want from this forum I'm not getting, except for once by Larrin when he called me out for being factually incorrect.
While I'm confident in what I believe to be true, I'm depending on people like you who've been around this industry longer to call me out when I'm wrong. I like debate and if I'm wrong I'm wrong. My ego isn't heavily invested.
I do however have the habit of speaking authoritatively, in which case, don't be shy... speak up if I'm wrong!!!
Fundamentally I'm here to learn and when I think I know what I'm talking about, I learn best through debate.
