I have long wondered how certain people are referred to by the title of “expert.”  While some people are true experts, the title is oftentimes misappropriated to people who have no expertise in anything.

For example, on the positive side are scientists, engineers, artists, historians, and so forth, who have spent many years studying in a difficult field, publishing their findings in peer-reviewed journals, justifying them to honest skeptics, and producing actual results — demonstrable discoveries, innovations, and so forth.

On the other side are people who claim to be (or are considered) experts in such fields as “life on other planets.”  To be sure, there are expert biologists, people who can tell us what conditions are necessary for living things to survive.  If we are to discover life on places other than our planet, there would need to be certain things such as an atmosphere, water, an energy source, et cetera.  Experts are qualified to say that. 

That, however, is a far cry from being an expert on “life on Mars” or wherever.  If there is, in fact, no life on Mars (except what we put there), then such an expert is actually an expert on nothing.  Imagine that.  Ladies and gentlemen, the symposium on nothing will now introduce Mister (or Doctor) Jim Boomer, a recognized expert in nothing.  Mister Boomer, when did you first become interested in stuff that, for all we know, does not exist?

There are experts in many other such fields, including, for example, fairies.  One can be an expert in myths about fairies and how those myths have affected various cultures, but those experts have actually studied various cultures.  They have done the drudgery of research.  It is quite another thing for an expert to say such things as, “There are four main types of fairies: woodland, meadow, blah blah blah.”  No.  There aren’t.  You just made that up.

Experts in nothing generally write and sell books.  The books tend to have spectacular titles.  The author then allows himself to be interviewed, either by friendly promoters of his book or by people who will pay him to endure an interview.  Such experts tend to sneer at skeptics, even to accuse them of nefarious motives, rather than engage in honest discussion.  (“You’re just a denier.”)

Many experts go online to promote their ideas.  They produce lengthy commentaries or videos about their discovery, their product, or their expertise.  “How to Extend Your Lifespan into Hundreds of Years” might be an example of clickbait.  Such articles do not begin by telling you what foods to eat, what exercises to do, et cetera.  They usually start off by saying something like, “If you read this book [or listen to this video] all the way through ... but first, I am going to tell you ... blah blah blah.”  This usually means that they are never going to tell you what they promise to tell you.  At some point, they will ask for your credit card.

Terribly, our elite universities are now churning out armies of people who somehow have become experts in such things as “Queer Studies,” Critical Race Theory, and the history of social injustice in post-colonial Abyssinia.  Their chief product is destructive disestablishment of the greatest culture (i.e., Western civilization) ever to have existed, the one that ended slavery, lifted billions from poverty, and freed untold numbers of young people to praise terrorists — who murder experts in Queer Studies.

After years of observing people being called “experts” on illusory subjects, it has occurred to me that I, too, am an expert.  I am an expert on experts.  I am going now to tell you all about experts, how to recognize them, how to detect fraud, and finally, how to become an expert yourself.  But first, let me tell you about...

Image: ElisaRiva via Pixabay, Pixabay License.