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The Pandemic Is Making The Crisis Of Expertise Much Worse
Expertise is not problem solving. The pandemic clarifies the difference with tragic efficiency.
This the fourth post in a series on the pandemic and its impact on progress and problem solving. In the last post, we looked at the impact on our values.
Experts once went about their business in relative tranquility. They were authoritative, credentialed and respected. Most tended to the same activities their entire careers. Academic institutions and communities of practice were well defined and largely stable.
Today, there’s a crisis of expertise. Many consider experts parasitic, a conceit of the elite. Technology has made information abundant and accessible, creating armchair experts of every fabric and style. Old stock experts have been squeezed out, overrun with people that maintain a posture of expertise but none of the substance. Their mimicry runs so deep that these faux experts are themselves often unaware of the difference. Privilege and celebrity provide fertile environments. The first son-in-law, Jared — “I’ve gotten a lot smarter about this” — Kushner is a sparkling example.
Since 2000, the number of people in America with advanced degrees has more than doubled. But even real experts cause grief for other experts. Once certified in a subject, experts may freely migrate beyond the boundaries of their training and experience. Stay in your lane!, experts warn. Stop your epistemic vacations! Public health experts opine on the economy. Economists opine on health matters. Trade advisor Peter Navarro defended his second opinion on hydroxychloroquine on the basis of his all-purpose expertise. When questioned, he explained, “I’m a Social Scientist.”
While often the brunt of late show jokes, the crisis of expertise leads to tragedy…
