Week 15 - Reflection on Experts

[image source: https://www.caseyprinting.com/talk-to-an-expert-book-indesign]

Question: How should we value experts without giving them power? [source: @leighwelch]

Response: The best thing we can do with experts is listen to them and trust that they know more than you do. By having a multitude of experts for certain fields, relying on them will become easy and helpful. Experts are experts for a reason so listening (and hearing) them is helpful, however, it's when people begin relying on a single expert that we get into trouble. We should be able to treat them like doctors, we trust them to their job, to prescribe the correct solution to problems, and then make the correct and necessary choice. It does require an amount of trust and humbleness, mostly because people need to be able to admit that they can't know everything and that they need to trust other people. We also need to be able to determine who are actually experts (which is why its best to have a group of experts) but also ensure that they are not biased/bribed/corrupted. There needs to be a balance, like with the government set up, where we can consult and then react. Overall, the best way to use experts without giving them too much power is keeping them in a consulting position that we can actively use and trust to help make decisions, without putting them in positions to make those choices.