Am I an expert?

Last week I was going back home with two of my brothers and my dad from the family trip. As we were talking, suddenly I realized that my little brother, who is now seven, kept asking many questions and when my other brother or I answered to his question he still waited for my father's answer. Firstly I thought that it might be because our dad is his role model and then he believes that my father has greater knowledge so  naturally he is more likely than me to answer correctly. This got me thinking about experts. In this situation, my dad was an expert and my little brother-a person which desired knowledge. We can observe that in media, especially tv news or in newspapers, when analyzing a global, political or any other issue mostly the experts occur and provide not also the historical facts and scientific theories, but also their point of view. Of course in the ideal world, when each person thinks critically and independently, he or she can create their own opinion by looking for more information and points of view. However, sadly, due to humans' lazy nature and how time-consuming this process can be, many are highly influenced by the ''experts''. 

How someone even become an expert? Is it the expertise, experience in a particular field or having  innovative ideas? In different subject areas the ''criterias'' by which people determine if someone is an expert, may vary a lot. For example, when it comes to literature and language studies someone with 20-years experience working on a univerisity and constantly studying the language would be viewed as a better expert than a university student who just have started to gain knowledge about this area. On the other hand, in IT industry young and dynamic people with innovative ideas are valued more than an older person which may be not up to date with the newest technology. Hence, the younger, with relatively less experience can be seen as an IT expert. Therefore, in some areas of knowledge it is harder to decide whether one is an expert or not. Also, for many one person can be viewed as a reliable person which can be called an ''expert'', whereas others may not agree on that.

But, bringing back the question about the influence that so called ''experts'' may have on people, we might also consider the issues concerning shared and personal knowledge. As we can observe, we are more willing to trust someone with similar views and opinions to ours. Hence, often experts may have a greater influence on people which personal experience is similar or the culture in which they both (the expert and a person) lives. However, like in many cases there are exeptions. Because we cannot ever be sure of human behaviour, due to its complexity, of course it cannot be said that every person is influenced by experts' opinion. Some can be simply less willing to agree on one's claims without checking the facts and creating person's own opinion.

Summing up, when it comes to influence which experts can have on people can vary, depending on person's character, world view or situation in which one's is. And because of humans' complexity, it cannot be surly claimed that everyone is influenced. Also when it comes to deciding which features makes someone an expert, those criterias differ in various areas of knowledge. However, in most the experience and expertise seem to play the key role.

Sources that helped me to write this entry:

Newman, D. (2014) Experts may have influence, but what makes an expert?  Available at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/danielnewman/2014/04/22/experts-may-have-influence-but-what-makes-an-expert/#4108d68042aa  (Accessed: 20 February 2017).

Millo, A.M.H. (2013) How experts gain influence. Available at: https://hbr.org/2013/07/how-experts-gain-influence (Accessed: 20 February 2017).