The Death Of Expertise
thefederalist.com
The Death Of Expertise
1–10 of 164 posts
Re: The Death Of Expertise
#2I agree with the gist of the article, but it I noticed it didn't mention the research that some classes of experts actually make worse predictions than a class of generalists... I think referred to as wolves and foxes, but I can't remember.
Re: The Death Of Expertise
#3God talks to me. I am high IQ. I used to be an atheist.
Are you an atheist? Stupid people are smarter than you. My doctor, the retard-nigger, thinks the brain can control a 400Mhz clock. He thinks the NSA controls the NIST website.
An atheist doctor is obviously a retard.
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25 At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. 26 Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do.
27 “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
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God says... how's_the_weather that's_no_fun I_pitty_the_fool I_had_a_crazy_dream you_think_you_could_do_better so_he_sess glorious dude_such_a_scoffer FBI nerd jobs dude_such_a_scoffer check_this_out but_of_course let_me_count_the_ways astounding good tiffanies I_give_up choose_one later threads not_in_my_wildest_dreams I_forgot I'm_feeling_nice_today prosperity that's_for_me_to_know nut_job Oy Give_me_praise if_and_only_if I_could_be_wrong dance what's_up Knock_you_upside_the_head what_would_Jesus_do look_out run_away special_case not_a_chance_in_hell goods a_screw_loose ipod whazza_matter_for_you imports it_figures outrageous kick_back meek endeared walking Angel yep
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Ira had Einstein working for him but thought he was getting ripped-off. Pathetic!
Re: The Death Of Expertise
#4I'll gladly defer to an astrophysicist on matters of the universe, a plumber on piping, or a mechanic on auto repair. I think the problem is the field of social sciences is kind of a wasteland. While I can respect the skills and analysis of someone in the field, it's highly nuanced material with plenty of room for debate. I'm not sure it's a bad thing.
Re: The Death Of Expertise
#5Excellent essay. Made me think why my comments on HN get constantly downvoted. I love HN, but for all its greatness, an average user here is neither an expert in practically anything, nor likely a productive member of society. He is just a contrarian with no knowledge. 100 years ago he would have been a peasant in Ohio.
Re: The Death Of Expertise
#6I agree with the gist of the article, but it I noticed it didn't mention the research that some classes of experts actually make worse predictions than a class of generalists... I think referred to as wolves and foxes, but I can't remember.
I think you're thinking of Isaiah Berlin's The Hedgehog and the Fox: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hedgehog_and_the_Fox
If you like that, you might also like the book Expert Political Judgement by Philip Tetlock which uses the Hedgehog and Fox metaphor to analyze people's political judgements. https://duckduckgo.com/?q=expert+political+judgement
Re: The Death Of Expertise
#7This is the same alarmist nonsense that's been floating around since forever under one or another banner. This time it's expertise; last time it was "the end of intellectualism" and next time it'll be "Are we heading toward a chasm at full speed because PhDs aren't choosing the president?"
It's mostly intellectually embarrassing foolish nonsense. There's a significant difference between experts like developers, doctors, and engineers, and lawyers, sociologists, and anthropologists. The former group is composed of technical expertise that is necessary for performing the applied functional area of knowledge while the latter group is solely trained in the arena of thoughtfulness.
Want to lament the fact that social science isn't appreciated as it should be? Completely fine. But let's not pretend that understanding how to organize an economy is expertise nor that having such knowledge privileges anyone to make socio-economic decisions for anyone else. If ordinary people weren't the best at understanding how to organize their own lives, traitors wouldn't pay trillions to delude and manipulate them constantly.
Re: The Death Of Expertise
#8This is the same alarmist nonsense that's been floating around since forever under one or another banner. This time it's expertise; last time it was "the end of intellectualism" and next time it'll be "Are we heading toward a chasm at full speed because PhDs aren't choosing the president?" It's mostly intellectually embarrassing foolish nonsense. There's a significant difference between experts like developers, docto…
I think there is a huge tendency to conflate specialization with expertise.
My arrogant baseless opinion is that there are a whole lot more specialists than there are experts.
Re: The Death Of Expertise
#9Excellent essay. Made me think why my comments on HN get constantly downvoted. I love HN, but for all its greatness, an average user here is neither an expert in practically anything, nor likely a productive member of society. He is just a contrarian with no knowledge. 100 years ago he would have been a peasant in Ohio.
Interesting theory. So, in effect, your comments are downvoted because the majority of people here are either too ignorant or too stupid to understand them. Well, that's one way to avoid ever having to question your own beliefs/knowledge.
Re: The Death Of Expertise
#10I think I have read too much Taleb to be able to agree.