What is an expert?
Given enough time to think about it, you may conclude that an expert is a relational term; there can only be experts if there are also non-experts, in the same way people can’t be tall, rich, or good looking without short, poor, or ugly people as relational alternatives. In contrast, you can define what a dog is without any prior knowledge or reference to, say, a cat.
So what seperates an expert from a non-expert? Well, according to the textbook I am reading, it is “the ability to make and use power distinctions about a subject that are beyond the knowledge of non-experts”.
I don’t love this definition, as it is semi self-referential, but when partnered with an example, is quite persuasive.
Say your car stops working, and you take it to the mechanic. When they pop the hood, the mechanic exclaims “Wow, there is a lot of metal and wires in here!”.
Do you consider the mechanic more or less of an expert after this interaction? Probably less, because even people with no knowledge of car engines (like myself) could tell you that yes, there is a lot of metal and wires under the hood. I would be likely looking for a new mechanic.
If, instead, she said “Cylinder four is down on compression, but the leak-down is pushing pressure into the crankcase rather than the cooling system, so I’d be looking at a broken ring land or damaged rings before I start blaming the head or valves.*”, I would be far more likely to believe she was an expert, and would be excited to know my car would be on the road soon.
This is just one interaction.
If Mechanic One (Mr. Wires and Metal) fixed my car in half a day and had it running like a prime Ferrari, while Mechanic Two (Ms. Cylinder Four) caused my vehicle to combust into a spectacular fireball, I would reassign my belief on who the expert really is.
This all sounds fairly straightforward and intuitive, but seeing it written down and explained properly helps a lot.
* This is from ChatGPT; I am such a car non-expert I could never come up with this sentence on my own.
Leave a Reply