The Death of Expertise

the campaign against established knowledge and why it matters

by Thomas M. Nichols

252 pages

English language

Published Nov. 12, 2017

ISBN:: 978-0-19-046941-2
OCLC Number:: 965120125

(8 reviews)

A cult of anti-expertise sentiment has coincided with anti-intellectualism, resulting in massively viral yet poorly informed debates ranging from the anti-vaccination movement to attacks on GMOs. As Tom Nichols shows in The Death of Expertise, there are a number of reasons why this has occurred-ranging from easy access to Internet search engines to a customer satisfaction model within higher education.

"Thanks to technological advances and increasing levels of education, we have access to more information than ever before. Yet rather than ushering in a new era of enlightenment, the information age has helped fuel a surge in narcissistic and misguided intellectual egalitananism that has crippled informed debates on any number of issues. Today, everyone knows everything: with only a quick trip through WebMD or Wikipedia, average citizens believe themselves to be on an equal intellectual footing with doctors and diplomats. All voices, even the most ridiculous, demand to be taken with equal seriousness, and any claim to the contrary is dismissed as undemocratic elitism. As Tom Nichols shows in The Death of Expertise, this rejection of experts has occurred for many reasons, including the openness of the Internet, the emergence of a customer satisfaction model in higher education, and the transformation of the news industry into a 24-hour entertainment machine. Paradoxically, the increasingly democratic dissemination of information, rather than producing an educated public, has instead created an army of ill-informed and angry citizens who denounce intellectual achievement and distrust experts. Nichols has deeper concerns than the current rejection of expertise and learning, noting that when ordinary citizens believe that no one knows more than anyone else, democratic institutions themselves are in danger of falling either to populism or to technocracy---or in the worst case, a combination of both. The Death of Expertise is not only an exploration of a dangerous phenomenon but also a warning about the stability and survival of modern democracy in the Information Age."--Jacket.

1 edition

Nibsy reviewed The Death of Expertise by Thomas M. Nichols

A Timely Warning; But Will It Be Heard?

4 stars

The last several years have seen a rise in contempt for expertise by a growing segment of society who seem to embrace, or even celebrate, ignorance. Examples from around the world are easy to find, but no more so than in the United States--especially since Donald Trump was elected, given his open hostility towards experts. The internet, especially social media, has provided anyone with an opinion--regardless of how misinformed it may be--with a platform that can potentially reach a global audience of millions. This has led to a growing sentiment that anyone's opinion on any matter is just as valid as anyone else's, regardless of the expertise of the person expressing it. Problem is, it's not.

But society has exacerbated this hostility towards expertise in a number of other ways beyond the internet. Shifts in reporting practices in the mainstream media that focus on engagement over veracity has led to a decline in the quality of information they disseminate. It has also led to a massive increase in the number of partisan media outlets, which has contributed to the growing polarization of society. Cognitive biases, such as the Dunning-Kruger effect, has led some of the least knowledgeable people on any given topic to confidently express and amplify their (usually misinformed) opinions the loudest, while actual experts use caution and caveats in expressing theirs. The education system has also eroded the value of expertise, where post-secondary institutions place more effort and funding on providing students with "experiences" and "safe spaces" than equipping them with critical thinking skills and resilience to adversity, which are both necessary for thriving and surviving in a pluralistic society.

When bona fide experts are rejected by society and replaced by the misinformed opinions of propagandists, charlatans, and their advocates, democracy itself is threatened. But that's where we find ourselves today. The Death of Expertise by Tom Nichols addresses this problem, as an expert himself, by defining the problem and offering a number of possible ways to correct it. Some have criticized Nichols for drifting out of his lane (as a political scientist) by writing on this topic, but I disagree. As an academic, he's exactly the right sort of person to write a book like this--someone who understands not only the problem with the public's perception of experts and expertise, but also someone who appreciates the wider implications if this problem is allowed to fester. The book is written in clear, simple language without "dumbing-down" the content, so that maybe those who need this message most are more likely to read this book.