Is the rise of “the Expert”
Think for
I love how these days the access we have to
technology, social media, and online journalism
leads to everyone being an expert, “The Everyday
Expert,” as Daniel Gulati in the Harvard Business
Review expressed. Think about those new mums
searching Google pages to find the perfect remedy
for their newborn’s symptoms and diagnosing any
gurgling sound with good ol’ gripe water! Come
on, I know you’ve done it too! How many times
have we gone to Google before an actual medical
appointment, mortgage meeting, or financial
planning consultation?
Have you noticed that everyone around you now
seems to be an expert at something? How good
are your friends and family at providing unsolicited
advice on your moods, career, parenting skills, or
financial direction? Are you someone who receives
hundreds of emails and blogs from many sources
just to find the one thing you hadn’t thought of
before?
In the past, we received our most important life
advice from a counselor, business accountant,
solicitor, doctor, or financial planner. People with
years of qualifications, training, and specialised
knowledge. However, today we herd together to
follow the latest thing trending on the net – just out
of popularity and hype – sharing opinions rather
than facts and evidence.
What will become of our nation if we continually
allow our children to succumb to outsourced
“surrogate thinkers” (explained by Patrick
O’Shaughnessy, Millennial Invest). Have we become
so desperate for ‘celebrevice’ that we now reach
for anyone perceived to be better-known, more
intelligent, or better-looking to provide us with
the solutions, rather than continue to investigate
fully and use the specialties of someone with
qualifications and experience? Are we put off by
the costs, fees, and expense of seeking credible,
knowledgeable, and factual advice, that we’d rather
make crucial life mistakes to save a mere “dollar”?
Or is it our lack of self-worth that is key to this new
disorder amongst us, seeking a reality promised
by another, the untouchable dream, the certainty
that someone else has been there before and the
comfort of assurance this will be a valid outcome?
Are we willing to part with $25,000 and upwards to
be taught, mentored, and candy-coated by these
so-called experts?
I think not. In reality it’s an excuse for many to
continue to hide in the shadows with the fear of
having to stand alone should others not follow. Is
the bittersweet ideology that follows the path of
someone who has been there before the only way
to achieve your own life’s success?
Haven’t we been guilty of this at some point in our
own lives? Time to stop and think!
“
If you make people think they’re thinking,
they’ll love you; but if you really make them
think, they’ll hate you.
— Don Marquis
”
Interestingly enough, as Patrick O'Shaughnessy details in the Tetlock’s study:
“
It made virtually no difference whether participants had doctorates, whether
they were economists, political scientists, journalists, or historians, whether they had
policy experience or access to classified information, or whether they had logged
many or few years of experience in their chosen line of work. The only consistent
predictor was, ironically, fame, as indexed by a Google
count: better-known forecasters—those more likely to be fêted by the media—were
less well-calibrated than their lower-profile colleagues.
”
Scary thought indeed!