On the Alleged Campaign Against Established Knowledge

 

A while back, somebody told me about this book "The Death of Expertise".

The guy makes a few good points. But I've seen some excited people waving this book in the air while they insult what they call "thought leaders".

First, what they call thought leaders is not what I call thought leaders.

And here's a few things to consider:

When things change, expertise in the old way doesn't matter any more. Looking for an expert in recording with wax cylinders so you can get a top notch recording of your new hip hop album? How about someone who can help you design a carburetor for your new electric car? 

I didn't think so. Things have moved on from what those experts were expert at.

And the deeper into the establishment-think of a profession an expert goes, the deeper their "expertise", the more they are caught up in the thinking traps of that field or profession. It's hard to see everything around you at once with a periscope.

But they've got time invested. They've got money invested. They've got work invested. Maintaining the power of that field becomes more important than the truth, when the relative "truth" of that narrowly defined field becomes challenged by new learning.

Or, for that matter, challenged by thought leadership which isn't constricted that way. 

There's a reason breakthroughs in a field almost always come from someone outside of that field.

So, if you want entrenched ideas to stay entrenched, give the power to the "experts". If you want progress, pay attention to thought leaders. Vet their ideas but pay attention.

They may not always be right but they keep progress moving.

Along the way, question everything. Especially what you hear from those with professional "expertise".