TOK Essay

Session: May 2011

2. How important are the opinions of experts in the search for knowledge?

Allyson Stelzer

0600-053

Number of Words: 1232

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 The opinions of experts are more significant in today’s society than they should

be. Society sets experts on a pedestal by segregating them from the average knower. Is

that what makes them an expert? Or is it their extensive practice in a specific area that

validates their expertise? How is an expert so different that their opinion should be held

at higher significance than the average knower? The lengths that are gone to in order to

set experts apart from the general population contribute the most to the importance of

experts, which essentially gives them the title of experts. Even with the divide created to

separate experts, their opinions should hold little to no more significance than any other

opinion.

Experts stand out from the typical person through various ways. They are given

titles that have grown to connote expertise at the mere sight of them. Prime examples of

these titles are the titles given to doctors. A specialized doctor is not simply called a foot

or lung doctor. They are given the title podiatrist or pulmonologist. Many of the average

knowers know very little about which doctors are called which, making them feel

disconnected with their pulmonologists or podiatrists. They can relate to a foot or lung

doctor, but once a title is in place they feel distanced because it embodies the divide

between average and expert. As a doctor becomes more specialized, essentially becoming

more of an expert, their title becomes longer. In order to specialize as a doctor it takes a

much longer time period than to become a general practitioner and with this being a well-

known fact, knowers make the connection between the two. The longer a title the more a

knower equates that title to a divide between the doctor and patient.

A title, so simple, yet it embodies something much larger than a simple name and

through that embodiment knowers have made the connection between title and advanced

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knowledge. But what is more important is how does the knower make the connection

between expert and superior opinion?

What society is exposed to essentially shapes what society knows, or has come to

know. Media is everything. What the media wants us to know is expressed in so many

different ways that it is difficult for knowers to recognize their perceptions are being

altered. Experts are given a significant amount of airtime in media, through different

variations such as television commercials, magazine advertisements and even television

shows. Everyone consults experts in nearly every situation nowadays. Whether it be the

right medication to use or the right car to buy. How can one knower’s opinion be more

significant than another’s?

Some may argue that experts are only given their title after such an extensive

period of time of practice in their field and are being exposed to so much more on that

specific subject than an average knower, that their opinion has more justification to back

it up. This is a fact I would hold true in most cases, but media has taken this to another

extreme. Experts are consulted in not only medical areas anymore. They are consulted in

the right type of nail polish to buy, the right color shirt to accentuate your figure, even the

right type of significant other to suit your personality. Who is to judge what is right for

another knower? The term right, in itself, is a relative term with no universal meaning, so

how can an expert generalize that a red shirt looks good on all blonde women? Or that a

shy significant other will work best with a knower if they are outgoing? The medical

expertise given by your doctor at a consultation is specifically geared toward the

individual involved, whereas an infomercial on television is geared toward a much larger

audience.

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 The significance an opinion holds is only as much as the individual gives it. So

even if the commercial tells you that the medication they are promoting is the number

one recommended by doctors, that doesn’t mean a thing unless you personally hold

significance in expert’s opinions. Unfortunately, a lot of people fall for the trap set by the

media and accept all opinions, claimed to be of experts, as knowledge or even the better

choice. The significance a knower gives to the opinion of an expert directly correlates to

their location on the knowledge acceptance spectrum. Does the knower easily accept any

and all information as knowledge or is the knower a skeptic that doubts anything holds

enough justification to be accepted as knowledge?

Personally, I reside more in the middle of the spectrum. Therefore, I question

some of the expert opinions whereas others I accept. It depends upon the situation and

what types of connections I have with the situation. If someone is giving me their expert

opinion on which car to purchase I would tend to be more skeptical of their advice. Are

they simply trying to direct me toward the more expensive vehicle? Do they have an

ulterior motive, such as profit? On the other hand if someone is recommending the proper

medication to cure my grandmother I am less likely to question the opinion, simply for

the fact that I have such strong emotional ties to my grandmother I would likely be

willing to do anything to cure her, whether it costs a little more or not.

Another approach to take is, who is the opinion geared for? A television

commercial can be seen by millions of people. What validates that of those million

viewers they all will look the same way in the “number one recommended by fashion

experts” pair of jeans? Some watching the commercial or looking at the ad will forget the

many others that have seen or are seeing it and think of it as a personal thing and will go

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purchase that pair of jeans. Now if you consult a fashion expert that will specifically find

a pair of jeans that accentuate your body shape, you are much more likely to find success.

But even with that said, what makes the fashion expert’s opinion more important than

your best friend, an average knower? Your best friend is someone that is much more

likely to see you in the pants on a regular basis. Even more important should be your own

opinion on the way you look in the pants. Does it even matter if an expert tells you they

look good when you don’t think they look good? Or do you just accept the expert’s

opinion as more valid than your own? The way this situation is handled is dependent

upon the individual knower, whose perception is shaped by their experiences through life.

This makes it nearly impossible to generalize any one situation to a group of knowers.

An expert’s opinion, though valid in some instances, is consulted far too much in

our society today. Media endorses expert opinions in too many circumstances which

makes them loose credibility. When it comes down to it, in most circumstances one

opinion is not superior to another. Although an expert is likely to have more knowledge

on a subject than the average person, their opinion is still not knowledge. Opinions vary

depending on the individual and without an absolute it’s hard to hold one opinion more

significant than another’s. The significance given to expert’s opinions in society today is

too much.