Are You An Expert? Or Is It Confirmation Bias

One of the most dangerous ideologies that has come about in recent years with the evolution of social media is that everyone thinks that their points of view are equally valid as anyone else. In that the ‘average person’ (you and I) are just as equal and equipped to judge everyone else’s ideas and theories as equal. That is, you may have equal merit as anyone else.

“I’ll listen to all sides of the story and judge for myself” you say. No. Not correct. I do not condone the death of ‘expertise’ and neither should you.

I am expert in very, very few things. That said, in those areas where I am expert, my expertise is hard earned through study, work, experience and aptitude. Expertise is fluid, it comes and goes as time passes and without constant study, work, experience and aptitude, it will dilute. No expertise comes from attending the ‘universities’ of Google, Youtube and Wikipedia nor the gossip columns of Facebook or Twitter. But unless you are an expert in exactly the same fields as me, then your opinion is not just as valid as mine. It is not. It cannot be.

Indeed and visa versa, my opinion is not as valid as any other expert in their own field. That is why they are the experts.

So, if our leading scientists and epidemiologists largely agree that scenario ‘A’ is correct but a couple of discredited doctors disagree and state scenario ‘B’ is correct, your response should not be “I’ll listen to both and decide which makes more sense to me.”

You see, ‘Confirmation Bias’ exists. Confirmation Bias is the tendency for you to search for, interpret, favour and recall information in a way that confirms or supports your previous and present beliefs or values. It does exist and only fools believe they are free of it. Your ignorance is not the same as an expert’s experience and expertise.

Genuinely smart people will look for answers from people who are equal or otherwise smarter than themselves. Only ignorant people believe their guess is as good as anyone else’s guess.