death of expertise pt 2

Question 1

how has the internet contributed to the death of expertise

Answer 1

everyone is an instant expert and anyone can be a journalist, no barriers to publishing on the internet or regulation, driven by profit, money and popularity creates experts, not knowledge

Question 2

sturgeons law

Answer 2

90% of everything is crap

Question 3

How has the internet changed the way we read, the way we reason, and the way we think?

Answer 3

spread conspiracy theories and misinformation fast, no research, just finding info that confirms beliefs, mistaking outsourced knowledge for internal knowledge, dumbing down society, we’re meaner and short fused

Question 4

What is wrong with Wikipedia and crowd sourcing according to Nichols?

Answer 4

crowd sourcing good in theory (mob members) but no oversight, inconsistent, written by hobbyists not experts, no peer review, western male dominated (bias)

Question 5

What role does social media play in the death of expertise?

Answer 5

arguing from a distance, corrodes trust and respect (need trust), backfire effect, double down when idea is threatened with facts, more interaction, more arguments and hostility

Question 6

Are journalists experts? Discuss what would make a journalist an expert. What does Nichols argue is wrong with journalism and communications as a major as it relates to journalism and expertise?

Answer 6

they can be experts, but are increasingly less so. the study and knowledge of a subject they’re reporting on/past experience with subject could make them an expert. majors don’t prepare journalists for the field, need apprenticeships, don’t let them develop background in a subject they need to be an expert

Question 7

What changes in media and journalism have contributed to the death of expertise?

Answer 7

fusion of entertainment (drama) with news, cut back funds to hire journalists, devaluation of expert advice in media, social media and the internet- anyone can pose as a journalist, 24hr news cycle, don’t get enough time to craft out stories/investigative journalism, less research

Question 8

How has talk radio contributed to the death of expertise?

Answer 8

entertainment fused w news, reporter as a commentator/personality, ppl can call in and express views, rush limbough- built empire on devaluing media, creates community, turn against trad news sources

Question 9

What does trust have to do with media and the death of expertise?

Answer 9

collapse of trust in media to accurately report events leads to ignorance on expert opinion. lack of trust can also spark conspiracy

Question 10

What does Nichols suggest is to be done to fix the state of journalism and the relationship between media/journalism and expertise?

Answer 10

younger journalists: acquire more background knowledge on subjects
experts: no when to say no to journalists
consumers: be humble, get a wide variety of sources, be less cynical, and be more discriminatory on reputability and trustworthiness

Question 11

What are the different kinds of expert failure?

Answer 11

ordinary failures (errors), stretching of expertise, move from explaining to prediction, and deception/malfeasance (falsification, fabrication, plagiarism)

Question 12

What examples of scholarly fraud does Nichols provide. What is the effect of such cases? On attitudes about expertise? On scholarly endeavors?

Answer 12

no irish need apply error, columbia cell bio research on alzheimer’s, can make public think that anyone curious and w a nose for research can challenge status quo, work can be cited in countless other studies before being proven falsified

Question 13

What are cross-expertise violations? Why are they a problem? What examples

Answer 13

claiming wider expertise over area of confidence (im an expert in this so i can be trusted to evaluate something else, premed v prelaw) misinformation, hurt civilian health and own reputation, abusing platforms
pauling vitamin c nobel prize for chem (lethal, hurt ppl), pediatrician influencing arms race and nuclear policy

Question 14

What are the problems with expert predictions? Why do experts make predictions?Should they?

Answer 14

it’s what public wants. strong incentive, but predictions go against science, experts usually not good, can ruin reputations when wrong, ppl expect guarantee when it’s not possible, they shouldn’t their role is not to win coin tosses or gamble but to guide public decisions abt possible failures

Question 15

Trump’s victory, Nichols writes, “was one of the most recent-and one of the loudest - trumpets sounding the death of expertise.” What evidence does Nichols provide to support this claim?

Answer 15

speeches, trump explicitly says he doesn’t have experts on his team because experts are terrible, campaigning against est knowledge,
plays into/endorses conspiracy (obama birther, anti vax, justice scalia murdered, ted cruz’s father killed jfk)
specifically targets and mobilized uneducated (dunning kruger effect)

Question 16

Who bears the ultimate responsibility for the death of expertise, according to Nichols? How can they fix this problem? Is that likely?

Answer 16

society of american ppl being illiterate, ignorant, arrogance, narcissism, and cynicism
has hope for american ppl but it’s getting farther and farther away from reversal , fears resolution lies in disaster

Question 17

What can the experts do about this damaged relationship with the public?

Answer 17

transparency, hold each other accountable, claim responsibility for mistakes, own their advice

Question 18

How well does the U.S. public understand their political system and the role of expertise? How does that level of understanding feed the death of expertise?

Answer 18

conflating exoerts w policy makers, experts can give advice, policy makers don’t have to listen to it, knowers v doers, republic relies on experts, attack on expertise undermines and threatens gov, when voters vote against experts and for personality, their reps will do the same and policy will be guided by opinion not fact

Question 19

What sort of expertise is required to write a book such as this? Does Nichols have that expertise? What other indicators are there that could give us confidence in Nichol’s arguments? [Hints: read the prefaces.] subject

Answer 19

expertise on education (prof) and government (political advisor), uses input from other experts when he doesn’t have expertise, peer reviewed