It's tough to be an expert
17 October 2024
It’s tough to be an expert. To become an expert, you must spend a lot of time and money to acquire expertise, usually through expensive schooling. Then you must work for years in your field while making embarrassing mistakes and hoping to learn from them.
In addition, as reader Stan Geyer, M.D. commented: “An expert has scientific, technical, or specialized knowledge beyond that of the average layperson. An expert's methodology is generally accepted in the relevant field. An expert relies on evidence whenever its available. An expert's opinion can complement empirical evidence or, when evidence is absent, can withstand scrutiny as the best available source of information.”
Even experts must be cautious in their statements and should not speak beyond their expertise. For example, I have been a pathologist for 20 years and have been occasionally asked to give a medical opinion regarding topics in another medical subspecialty, such as abortion rights. However, doing so would be improper because expertise is specific and is not transferable. Experts frequently respond to inquiries by indicating that they do not have the expertise to comment publicly.
Experts have professional standards that should be followed when speaking or acting. You cannot speak too definitively about most topics because there are exceptions to most generalizations and there typically is much that is unknown about it. Experts cannot dismiss the opinions of other experts too easily.
On the other hand, it’s fun to be a pretend expert. It strokes one’s ego to be thought of as an expert, as someone who people consult to find out what the truth is about something. In Fiddler on the Roof, Tevyeh imagined this prestige as a rich man:
The most important men in town would come to fawn on me
They would ask me to advise them like a Solomon the Wise
"If you please, Reb Tevye"
"Pardon me, Reb Tevye"
Posing problems that would cross a rabbi's eyesAnd it won't make one bit of difference if I answer right or wrong
When you're rich, they think you really know
This ego-boosting probably explains part of Donald Trump’s personality. He regularly states that nobody knows more about pretty much anything than him (see an extensive list here).
Recently, he was interviewed by Bloomberg News:
When Micklethwait corrected Trump’s misunderstanding of the way tariffs work, Trump replied in front of a room full of people who understand the economy: “It must be hard for you to, you know, spend 25 years talking about tariffs as being negative and then have somebody explain to you that you're totally wrong.” Referring to analysis that his plans would explode the national debt, including analysis by the Wall Street Journal—hardly a left-wing outlet, as Mickelthwait pointed out—Trump replied: “What does the Wall Street Journal know? They’ve been wrong about everything. So have you, by the way….. You’ve been wrong about everything…. You’ve been wrong all your life on this stuff.”
Real experts know that things are typically not completely one way or the other. Pretend experts can be dogmatic and use “always” and “never” in their sentences. Perhaps this explains why Trump appeals so much to fundamentalists of various religions, even though their religious training should cause them to reject his profoundly evil character.
When you are a pretend expert, you can talk down to people. This also appeals to many people.
There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge’.
― Isaac Asimov
It’s pretty easy to be a pretend expert - no classes, no years of training, no professional standards to follow. Many pretend experts get their “expertise” from watching TV or from random thoughts that pop into their heads. That’s much cheaper and faster than going to professional school and getting years of experience.
Pretend experts don’t think that they are ignorant. They do read and think, but it’s not close to the magnitude or intensity of reading and thinking done by experts. They also don’t have to struggle to determine the truth - what they think must be correct!
When listening to the news or talking to other people, can you tell who are the experts and who is just pretending?
Here is another election volunteer activity:
Volunteer opportunities with Voters Not Politicians
If you like these essays, please subscribe or share them with others. These essays will always be free. Instead of giving me money, please repost these essays, strive to make our world a better place and try to make yourself a better person.
The index to this blog is here.
I have another blog on Cancer and Medicine.
Follow me on LinkedIn, Threads and Instagram (npernickmich) and Tribel (@nat385440b).
Email me at Nat@PathologyOutlines.com.
I also publish Notes at https://substack.com/note. Subscribers will automatically see my notes.