Expert Failure by Dr. Roger Koppl, is a book reflecting on the failures of so-called "experts," in their field. Dr. Koppl gave a speech discussing his book, and this is what I will be responding to.
Why is Dr. Koppl so passionate about this subject?
Dr. Koppl is particularly interested in this subject because he believes that experts have too much power. He names many instances in which so-called "experts," have failed in leading the public. For example: Alan Greenspan, one of the most influential economists failed to predict the Great Recession (min 15). Another example of expert failure was the water issues in Flint, Michigan. Experts and the government said that the water was safe for years, until it was finally found out that it was very dangerous to drink - and people had been using it for years (min 17). Thus, there are many instances in which experts have led the people astray, and we missed things because we were too quick to believe what the experts said. We gave them too much power, and it definitely costed us. Therefore, Dr. Koppl aims to raise awareness in the fact that these experts are in fact human, just like us. They make mistakes, they are motivated by similar things, and just because they are experts in a field does not mean that they are outright correct.
How can we combat expert power?
Well, for one, we can begin taking what experts say with a grain of salt. Not taking what they say as 100% fact, but rather, valuing what they have to say and taking it into consideration. Another thing that Dr. Koppl aimed to do was redefine expert. He defines it as "anyone paid for their opinion" (min 42). He had three points regarding this definition of experts. The first is that experts do not always seek truth. Second: experts are not smarter than others. Finally, he says that incentives skew the distribution of expert errors, even "honest" errors (min 46). For example, forensic scientists working with police have an incentive to get people convicted, because they are paid off of commission.
What do I think?
I think Dr. Koppl makes some good points about the fact that experts are in fact human, and they can very much make mistakes just like anyone else. We should value what they have to say, but not simply take it as fact and not give it a second thought - that can get dangerous. We need to do research, rather than just being lazy and letting everyone else do the work. I do not particularly like his definition of experts, because I just do not really agree that an expert is only someone that gets paid for their opinion.
Source:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=490&v=X0JaZOhXTGE&feature=youtu.be
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