June 20 | Don’t Ask an Expert

If you had a complicated problem, you may very well try to find an expert to solve it.

A doctor, a lawyer, a shrink, someone with leathered skin and a pair of leather gloves sticking out of their back pocket who inexplicably knows literally everything about your house. 

You may research their credentials. Ask them about their style of therapy. Sort through a list of referrals and look up good interview questions on the internet.

You may even find a second opinion. Or a third. Or make a list of options, sorted by price, expertise, and zip code. 

Of course, for this approach to work, you would have to be—in some sense—an expert on the subject of experts. Which none of us really are. 

Does it come down to chance, then? Hiring an expert in hopes you learn enough to hire the right expert? Or is expertise itself still a matter of faith—trust that, despite all evidence to the contrary, some of the people around you really are trying their hardest?… Read the rest