Death of Expertise pt 1 Flashcards
What is the nature of the death of expertise
pride in ignorance, distrust and lack of respect for experts, need to be right to fuel our own egos, media and that anyone can say anything or learn anything leads ppl to believe they are experts when they’re not
why should we be concerned of the death of expertise
the rejection of existing knowledge, science, and rationality , on which our modern civilization was founded upon, can cause death and great harm
is disdain for expertise new?
no, just amplified by internet, conflict btwn experts and lay ppl inevitable and will escalate and the gap between the 2 grows
are low levels of info new?
no, tocqueville theorizes american democracy promotes distrust of intellectual authority and appeal of info only to oneseslf, information overwhelms us, low levels of knowledge
what’s different today about attitudes toward experts
always low level of knowledge and trust in experts, but now more hostility towards knowledge, cool to be ignorant, and ppls refusal to be wrong , being wrong = being stupid
what is expertise
difficult to define, but the command of a subject so that info provided is true and can be trusted, knowing considerably more than avg person. found in people who we turn to when we need advice, education, solutions in a certain subject
how is expertise developed
starts w formal training and education, signals of quality, aptitude/natural talent, longevity, experience- develop intuition and wisdom
furthered w acceptance of evaluation/correction by others and learning from mistakes
expertise v knowledge
knowing v understanding, comprehension v complete analysis, knowledge easily obtained, expertise is developed
what is dunning kruger effect, what explains it
the dumber you are, the more confident you are that you’re not dumb
dumb people lack metacognituon which is the ability to step back, observe what ur doing wrong, and realizing it’s wrong, basically self awareness
least competent least likely to know they’re wrong and learn from it, most likely to fake they’re right
what is confirmation bias
tendency to look only for info that confirms are own beliefs and dismiss info that challenges them
why are we all susceptible to confirmation bias
survival mechanism: gripped by irrational fear rather than irrational optimism
what helps scientists avoid confirmation bias
trained on recognizing bias, negative result still a result
most important: peer review process
what are conspiracy theories
intricate manipulative ways of explaining things by ignoring logical solutions (occams razor) and manipulate all evidence to support their theory
why are conspiracy theories problematic in knowledge and politics
increasingly prevalent, fueled by tragic events , can produce moral panic, innocents get hurt, produces distrust, can’t really argue them
generalization
probabilistic statements based on observable fact - measurable, verifyable
stereotypes
not predictions but conclusions , eg generalization immigrants are more likely to not know english, stereotype, all immigrants don’t know english
what is equality bias and how does it play out
ppl give each other fair hearing and weigh all opinions equally even when everyone involved knows substantial diffs in competence, based on need to fit into a group, more competent advocates for others answers
applications: bad for recognizing and accepting truths, fake cultural literacy, move debates from research to democratic choice, bad bc foundational beliefs and polarization
how have colleges and unis contributed to public’s problematic attitudes abt knowledge and expertise
degree means substantially less, you can get a degree and not be qualified to argue w expert, but bc you have a degree you think you are
what’s critical thinking, why don’t schools guarantee it
critical thinking: the ability to examine new info, competing ideas logically and without emotion or personal preconceptions
college is commodified, no longer guarantees college education but college experience
