Importance Of Experts Opinions In Search For Knowledge Philosophy Essay

Importance Of Experts Opinions In Search For Knowledge Philosophy EssaySearching through newspapers, TV news or radio I can easily find the so c bothed opinions ofexperts. Almost every article in The Economist, Guardian consists of at least two quotations of economists, sociologists or lawyers who are in general professors of the world most famous Universities such asOxford, Cambridge, Harvard, Yell or workers of the specialised institutes. All these opinions whitethorn be useful in substantiateing knowledge as yet would itbereasonable to uncriti namey accept them asadefinite knowledge or call it my own knowledge? To answer the question of how significant are the opinions of experts in the search ofknowledge I will carry out an in depth analysis ofthree main aspects. First of all Iwill try to examine who anexpert is and what conditions need to be completed in order tocall approximatelyone an authority inaspecific field. Secondly, I will focus on the process oftransforming anopi nion into myown knowledge. The last aspect will set down where doexperts gain their knowledge and what are the bases of their opinions. I desire that ananalysis of these three dimensions, extended by an examples of my everyday life and based on specific areas ofknowledge, will be,to fully grown extent, sufficient for answering whether experts and their opinions are able to supply mewith an adequate evidence to accept itasareliable component ofmyknowledge.As I was thinking of how to define an expert I ended up realizing how complex the perception of experts is. I would say that there is no one, ideal definition. However as I think about it,this isa person who possess an in depth knowledge in a specific field and relying mostly on the trial-and-error evidence makes researches developing his/hers own understanding ofaspecific phenomenon. My brief definition seems to find anapplication in everyday life for example professors from Universities nail down only in narrow fields and by probing particular factors, they form their own proven conclusions which are further presented inmagazines or books asexperts opinions. AsIam most interested ineconomics it seems most reasonable to evoke anauthority specialising in this area. Let me focus on Leszek Balcerowicz, who is considered anexpert in regulating the interference ofthe government onthe market. First of all hegraduated from the economics faculty, performed inthe most respected depicted object and European posts and was an author of the famous Balcerowicz Plan which transformed Polish economy what provided him with anempirical evidence. Tomymind hepossesses enough knowledge to form reliable conclusions ofwhat heobserves inmarket. moreover we need to be aware that heisdevoted toaspecific economics school monetarism, therefore his opinions may betosome extent subordinate tohis personal beliefs orbiases. However whenever I see his opinion being expressed I know that it will for sure mend my understanding of a g iven case ashis authority based on experience, reasoning and although inevitably emotions and personal attitude are sufficient for me to call him anauthority whose opinion I base on when creating my own conclusions, present of view that Icall my own. Itmay be claimed that I treat Balcerowicz as an expert just because Iamsympathetic to his creed yet even people that have contradictory economical opinions doaccept his high school appointments and take his opinion into consideration at least to confront their and Balcerowiczs ideas. Therefore an authority is not only a person that people agree with and deal out the same opinion but rathersomeone who canprovide us with evidence of his claims.The process of transforming opinion into knowledge is also worth focusing. poring over in the IB programme I realize that experts opinions are only hints that help to interpret facts more widely. The most important social function for me was realising that even ifan expert does his/her outmat ch to be fair minded a bit of subjectivity is inevitable. Yet as I became aware of it the subjectivity turned out to have its electropositive effects. Historical experts seem tothrive on the conflicts between their opinions about events in their search for knowledge and better understanding ofthe past. The same event can suck vastly different opinions, for example the causes of the First World War. Marxist historians blame the development of capitalism whether as German historian, Geiss blames the failure ofdiplomacy.1Hence being a critically thinking person the contradiction of experts opinions makes me understand the problem inawider way, analyse of who Itrust more, whose evidence is strongly support and pound out a compromise.Experts are not born specialists, they gain knowledge and due towork and understanding ofspecific processes they may start being sensed as authorities within the area of their interest. Yet my look concerns mainly history, natural sciences, human scienc es but when itcomes to ethics the knowledge that books or expertises may provide becomes less usable. For example my mother is for me the expert of husband wife relations instead ofthe fact that her knowledge is based only on personal experience. Yet the evidence she can provide me with her successful relationship with my father is at that point sufficient for me.The evidence is in my opinion the most important thing while starting to believe insomething and gaining my own understanding of a given thing (note that in the presented essay I am not discussing theology beliefs). First of all the opinion needs to have rational grounds. This means that if my history teacher said that the First World War started asaconsequence of the assassination of Grand Duke Constantine without giving any proof orexplanation I would in all likelihood doubt whether itis reliable and true. However if he supported it with opinions ofother experts, prime sources (which may be for example some political documents) orother evidence the thesis would became more reliable and therefore probably accepted byme for further consideration of context.The last aspect of my concern is the origin of the need to rely on the opinions of experts. Looking for example at arts, what do I need experts opinions for? As it is the most subjective area of knowledge at first I almost saw no difference whether a flick was commented byan expert oranon expert. The only difference that I considered worth pointing was the fact that experts may be more used to commenting on arts and therefore their language and ability toexpress feelings may be clearer and more focused. However, as I thought about it more I realized that there is at least one more aspect. A good example is De Aardappeleters (The Potato Eaters) by Vincent van Gogh which I found to work different interpretations indifferent context. When I showed the painting to my friends, almost all of them found itordinary and only one person out of ten kn ow the author. However when I showed them the painting once more, but prefacing it with a history of masterpiece and Van Goghs assumptions (therefore I was acting like anexpert) all of them changed their attitude towards the painting and started to see it with a wider perspective appreciating the atmosphere and bright idea.To my mind when it comes to history experts opinions are one of the most important aspects ingaining knowledge for me. Even the primary sources, which seem to be most reliable and unspoiled source of knowledge, have to be interpreted as well. Therefore experts act like an interpreters. Due to their opposed opinions they create anopportunity for me to see different attitudes to the same event. This not only extends myperspective but also reminds me that looking at things from only one point of view is like not looking at them at all.To conclude in my opinion experts opinions are valuable in the search of knowledge. Authorities opinions may be sometimes misleading, lack evidence but as I take them into consideration while creating my own point of view I believe that it provides me with better analysis of the subject. Each opinion is somehow true therefore, whenever an expert or anon expert expresses an opinion I think that it expends my perspective and thusly makes methink more specifically on the problem, analyse it and create my own conclusion.