Experts

When a doctorate bedecked expert tells you something is true, you should remember that the good doctor is also a human being – a fallible human being.

————

An expert is a person who knows a great deal about very little. There’s nothing wrong with that. It’s exactly what’s needed when narrow expertise is the only thing that will do. When your plumbing needs fixing, an expert plumber will surely do better than a gifted amateur.

Experts are expert on what they are expert at. They are not expert at anything else.

That should be self-evident.

Apparently, it’s not.

I have heard, repeatably, that thousands of scientists support the claim of man-made climate change. I have also heard that some 70% of those scientists are not climatologists. They’re a motley selection of every other sort of scientist. The notion seems to be that no matter what field of science you may be in, you’re also an expert in any other field of science – like climatology.

We now regularly, and very thoughtlessly, ascribe competencies to science, technology, and assorted experts that are beyond their power to deliver. The phrase, ”settled science”, comes to mind.

Science is never settled. Every new theory, and every bit of new research is challenged, and then challenged again. The silliest adjective ever applied to science is, “settled”.

Our modern faith in expert, scientific, digital, statistical certainty has turned the common-sense part of our brains into squishy uselessness.

“Tell us a prediction is the result of trillions of factoids copulating invisibly in a computer and giving birth to next year’s consumer trends, pollution levels, crop yields, or inflation rates, and we’re as gullible as any Greek at Delphi”. – Barbra Holland

Conversely, Bob Dylan once sang, “You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows”. You do, however, need to pay attention.

When a doctorate bedecked expert tells you something is absolutely, certifiably true, you should remember that the good doctor is also a human being – a fallible human being. You should also recall that the current state of higher education is lower than it used to be.

I have heard, “experts”, say things that are so wildly out of whack with reality that I wonder how even they, can believe what they’re saying.

For much of the academic world, particularly the Social Sciences, indoctrination has replaced learning. From Psychology to Sociology, education is now directed toward politically correct truth, which usually contradicts what is actually true.

The chief tool for the deception is the malleability of statistics. Mark Twain once said, “There are lies, damned lies, and statistics”.

Numbers can be made to perform any summersault you choose; as can computer models - garbage in, garbage out.

The phrase, “studies show…”, should always be taken with a grain of salt.

The hard sciences, Physics and Mathematics, remain untouched - for now.

The greatest victims of decades of academic dissembling are the reputations

of legitimate experts.

In the Kingdom of the blind, the one-eyed should be King. But, if everyone

is blind, how can the people be certain anyone can see?

By K. L. Shipley

Website: https://www.eclecticessays.com