#586: The Manufactured Collapse of Expertise

Never before has there been greater access to information about nutrition and health. But never before has there been such a low barrier to being seen as an "expert". There are large numbers of people getting information from, and basing their health decisions on, people who don't have direct expertise in the field in which they are talking about.

Moreover, some promote the lack of domain expertise as a feature, not a bug. They claim that those that were conventionally seen as domain experts are either brainwashed, lazy in their thinking, or outright corrupt. And the solution is instead to look to those with a fresh perspective that can illuminate us on the "truth".

In this episode, Alan and Danny discuss this "death of domain expertise", how it plays out online, and its ramifications for people's ability to get good information.

Note: This episode was originally published as an exclusive episode for Sigma Nutrition Premium subscribers. If you wish to get more Premium-only episode or read study notes to our episodes, you can subscribe to Sigma Nutrition Premium.

Timestamps

• [03:21] The manufactured collapse of expertise
• [09:58] Understanding domain specific expertise
• [15:10] Cross domain expertise and its limits
• [33:07] The illusion of learning from popular podcasts
• [38:26] The problem with self-proclaimed experts
• [46:11] The challenge of identifying true expertise
• [50:39] The impact of institutional distrust
• [56:30] Navigating the information landscape

Links

• Go to episode page
• Join the Sigma email newsletter for free
• Subscribe to Sigma Nutrition Premium
• Alan Flanagan's Alinea Nutrition Education Hub 
• Enroll in the next cohort of our Applied Nutrition Literacy course
• Mentioned books & studies:
  • Tom Nichols – The Death of Expertise
  • Jonathan Haidt – The Righteous Mind
  • Ionnidis, 2018 – The Challenge of Reforming Nutritional Epidemiologic Research