4 ms·

Sure, but one of those is outsourcing their judgement to a panel of actual experts and the other to a panel of internet personalities

lo_zamoyski 1y ago
It always seemed odd how willing people are to defer to internet randos who are obviously out of their depth. Of course, you also have to identify which experts are trustworthy. This is an important skill to have. A non-expert must rely on at least two things to do this. The first are external signals, like financial associations and a record of making unpopular criticisms (but without being a contrarian or aiming for sensationalism), as well as reputational factors (not popularity, but a reputation for making strong cases). The second is the basic coherence of their claims. If they make remarks that contradict basic reality, then this is not a good sign. And of course, you have to be prudential and recognize your own limits. These are probabilistic, naturally, and there is an expected divergence of opinion here, even between what you thought yesterday and what you think today.
timr 1y ago
Look, I think I made my only point in the parent comment, but I just want to emphasize that "a panel of actual experts" is rarely the compliment that you seem to think it is. The past few years have been a veritable parade of experts saying inaccurate things, and/or being proven hilariously wrong in a variety of domains. I'm not saying that this isn't a hard problem -- it is -- but the fact is that "expert" is not a get-out-of-thinking-free card. It is, at best, a slightly higher weighted input amongst all others.
- xboxnolifes 1y ago
  Yeah, anyone working in any field for some amount of time is an "expert" in that field. Yet, finding 2 software engineers with differing opinions on a topic is trivial. Finding 1 making provably wrong statements on a topic is nearly as easy. They hold more weight than the average person, but it doesn't make them right by default.
- anon-3988 1y ago
  Whatever it is, if I ever need to get a lobotomy, I will refer to this so called "panel of actual experts". Thank you very much.

lo_zamoyski 1y ago

It always seemed odd how willing people are to defer to internet randos who are obviously out of their depth. Of course, you also have to identify which experts are trustworthy. This is an important skill to have. A non-expert must rely on at least two things to do this. The first are external signals, like financial associations and a record of making unpopular criticisms (but without being a contrarian or aiming for sensationalism), as well as reputational factors (not popularity, but a reputation for making strong cases). The second is the basic coherence of their claims. If they make remarks that contradict basic reality, then this is not a good sign. And of course, you have to be prudential and recognize your own limits. These are probabilistic, naturally, and there is an expected divergence of opinion here, even between what you thought yesterday and what you think today.

timr 1y ago

Look, I think I made my only point in the parent comment, but I just want to emphasize that "a panel of actual experts" is rarely the compliment that you seem to think it is. The past few years have been a veritable parade of experts saying inaccurate things, and/or being proven hilariously wrong in a variety of domains. I'm not saying that this isn't a hard problem -- it is -- but the fact is that "expert" is not a get-out-of-thinking-free card. It is, at best, a slightly higher weighted input amongst all others.

xboxnolifes 1y ago
Yeah, anyone working in any field for some amount of time is an "expert" in that field. Yet, finding 2 software engineers with differing opinions on a topic is trivial. Finding 1 making provably wrong statements on a topic is nearly as easy. They hold more weight than the average person, but it doesn't make them right by default.
anon-3988 1y ago
Whatever it is, if I ever need to get a lobotomy, I will refer to this so called "panel of actual experts". Thank you very much.