This book review was written by Eugene Kernes
“No, the bigger problem is that we’re
proud of not knowing things.
Americans have reached a point where ignorance, especially of anything
related to public policy, is an actual virtue.
To reject the advice of experts is to assert autonomy, a way for
Americans to insulate their increasingly fragile egos from ever being told
they’re wrong about anything. It is a
new Declaration of Independence: no longer do we hold these truths to be
self-evident, we hold all truths to be self-evident, even the ones that
aren’t true. All things are knowable and
every opinion on any subject is as good as any other.” – Tom Nichols, Preface
to the 2017 Edition, Page 15
“These are dangerous times.
Never have so many people had so much access to so much knowledge and
yet have been so resistant to learning anything. In the United States and other developed
nations, otherwise intelligent people denigrate intellectual achievement and
reject the advice of experts. Not only
do increasing numbers of laypeople lack basic knowledge, they reject
fundamental rules of evidence and refuse to learn how to make a logical
argument. In doing so, they risk
throwing away centuries of accumulated knowledge and undermining the practices
and habits that allow us to develop new knowledge.” – Tom Nichols, Introduction:
The Death of Expertise, Page 22
“The deeper issue here is that the Internet is changing the
way we read, the way we reason, even the way we think, and all for the
worse. We expect information
instantly. We want it broken down,
presented in a way that is pleasing to our eye – no more of those small-type,
fragile textbooks, thank you – and we want it to say what we want it to
say. People do not do “research” so much
as they “search for pretty pages online to provide answers they like with the
least amount of effort and in the shortest time.” The resulting flood of information, always of
varying quality and sometimes of uncertain sanity, creates a veneer of
knowledge that leaves people worse off than if they knew nothing at all.” – Tom
Nichols, Chapter 4: Let Me Google That for You, Page 119
Is This An Overview?
Within a society, people do not need to know about
everything, as division of labor in knowledge allows people to rely on the
knowledge of others. American culture no
longer supports the division of labor in knowledge, by not wanting to improve
their knowledge, by not relying on experts.
The death of expertise is the disconnect between experts and the
communities experts are meant to support.
A lack of dialogue between experts and everyone else. The death of expertise is not about expert
skills, as specialists are still wanted for technical support. The death of expertise is about the hostility
to knowledge.
Although people have access to vast amounts of knowledge,
there is a trend in American culture to reject learning anything that
contradicts held beliefs. Rejecting
disagreeing information to protect one’s ego.
A deliberate attempt to not know appropriate information. Rejecting expert advice is perceived as a
method of asserting autonomy. Through
the way the internet is used, and being treated as a client of a college rather
than a student, people have become to believe that they are experts on
everything. Developing a confusion
between knowing some facts and understanding the subject. Preventing people from understanding when
they are wrong, an inability to reevaluate and error correct their views.
What Are Experts?
Excerpts know considerably more on a subject, but that does
not mean they know all there is to know about the subject. Given limited time, gaining expertise in a
subject means an inability to learn other subjects. Requiring experts to rely on other experts in
different communities. Experts stay
engaged with their subject matter.
Experts can be wrong on occasion, but that is not the same
as always being wrong on everything.
Experts are more likely to be right than the public. Even bad experts, are better than
non-experts. Have relatively more
skills. Competition within fields
adjusts who survives.
Experts have contributed to the death of expertise, as
various experts have disengaged with the public. Experts seem to only want to interact with
other experts.
What Is The Role Of College?
Education is no longer the purpose of a college. College has become a client-centered
experience, which accommodates adolescents rather than overcoming
adolescence. Colleges have surrendered
their intellectual authority to activists who attack free inquiry. Returning society to a state of intolerance,
dogmatism, threats and violence. Rather
than supporting critical thinking, college has become a space for safe
spaces. College graduate lack the
ability to has a reasoned debate and discussion.
There is no interest in stopping grade inflation. Administrators want high graduation
rates. Departments want to attract
students. Faculty get rewarded when
using lower grading standards. Faculty
members focus on student satisfaction and enrollment.
How Does The Internet Effect Expertise?
While the internet can be a useful tool for those already
trained in doing research, the internet allows non experts to pretend to do
research. Research requires the ability
to find authentic information, and be able to analyze it.
People use the internet to confirm their views rather than
to correct their views. Rather than
research, people search enough to find something that looks good to them and
supports the answer they want as quickly as possible. Enabling confirmation bias.
Even the news industry supports confirmation bias, by
providing sources that support the views of those who fund them. Combining information and entertainment which
keeps people misinformed.
Caveats?
This book covers a variety of ways that society has found to
confirm biases. There are more reasons
for the death of expertise than those that are listed. The sources and examples for the book confirm
the bias of the author. Although the
death of expertise has caused various problems, it’s uncertain how widespread
the death of expertise is. The way the
author explains some ideas, contributes to some of the sources of the death of
expertise.
