What Expert Power Can Do
In the lecture for this week, Roger Koppl talked about expert failure. His example of that were the recession, the lead contaminating the water in Flint, Michigan, and coerced sterilization in women in prison as well as natives of Canada. These are all people that took the opinion of an expert and trusted them. That expert had enough power over all of these people to get them to do what the expert thought was okay at the time. Where are these people now? People in the recession lost their jobs and possibly their homes. The people of Flint, Michigan were tainted with lead through their water supply causing them itchy skin, rashes, and hair loss. These women in prison and Canada were only left with the one option and that was to never have babies again. The citizens trust these people to have their lives in their hands and sometimes it does not always turn out for the best. We need to have checks and balances to keep expert power in order.
What People Have To Realize
In another section of Koppl’s lecture, he talks about how experts are just human. Humans do make mistakes and that is something we must keep in mind. The experts might have overlooked something that completely changed the scenario. Humans can also be tempted by many different things that might sway their viewpoint.
The Definition of Expert
When I think of an expert, I think of someone who has a tremendous amount of knowledge on a certain topic that is well above what the average person knows. Koppl’s definition of expert is someone who is paid for their opinion. The more I think of expert in the terms of expert power his definition makes sense because they have the ability to persuade people simply on what they think of a subject. People will trust certain experts based on the fact that they have a reputation of knowing what they are talking about. That creates a system of leading and following where if no one is doing any fact checking can lead down a potentially bad path.
Value Expertise, But Not Expert Power
The globe needs experts in order to move forward with innovation of the next cars, technology, and medicines. Experts are important to the economic growth of the country. Expert power needs to be kept more in check, so we do not have more recessions or contaminated water. We need to use experts for the general public’s best interest not just their own.