So what happens when experts are wrong
While much of this blog has been a critique of why people stop trusting experts, does it mean that we as the public should blindly accept everything that an expert says? Take the food pyramid for example. For many years, American nutritionalists and the governing USDA body condemned the consumption of fat and encouraged the consumption of carbohydrates. The food pyramid however did not disclose that while saturated fat found in meat can cause high cholestreal blood levels, unsaturated fats in vegetable oil and fish reduces cholestreal. (Bruise, 2020).
Does this mean we should ignore all advice from Experts
Believe or not, experts can be wrong too. The fallacy of expertise is the idea that experts are always right. Nichols explores the idea that experts “cannot guarantee outcomes” (Nichols, 2017) and that they can only promise to hold themselves at a higher standard than non-experts.
Experts themselves often fall into traps as their established superiority over their non-specialist counterpart induces in a sense tunnel vision on their ideas. Research has shown that while expertise is developed through efficiency when dealing with cognitive loads regarding said field of expertise (Dror, 2011), expertise can lead towards degradation of performance. Arrogance and the culmination of over confidence can lead to refusal by said experts to listen and take advice on areas of their expertise (Hecht, 1995).
In daily life, “Laypeople have no choice but to trust experts” (Nichols, 2017). This phrase echoes a narrative that distrust in the abilities of experts. Seemingly the issue is not the idea that experts failing is negative but rather, a focus on the response that an expert gives when he fails. A layperson’s relationship with experts is a fragile one where respect needs to be garnered on both ends to ensure compatibility.
References
Dror, I. E., Pascual-Leone, A., & Ramachandran, V. (2011). The paradox of human expertise: why experts get it wrong. The paradoxical brain, 177.
Hecht, H., & Proffitt, D. R. (1995). The price of expertise: Effects of experience on the water-level task. Psychological Science, 6(2), 90–95.
Chaunie Brusie October 3, & Brusie, C. (2020, October 02). How Did The Government Get The Food Pyramid So Terribly Wrong? Retrieved January 14, 2021, from https://www.healthyway.com/content/how-did-the-government-get-the-food-pyramid-so-terribly-wrong/
Nichols, Tom. The Death of Expertise : The Campaign Against Established Knowledge and Why It Matters, Oxford University Press, Incorporated, 2017. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/lboro/detail.action?docID=4789556.
