Experts know stuff that you don't

Michael Gove famously said during the EU referendum campaign that "we are fed up with experts". This from a man whose only qualification for being Education Secretary was that he went to school.

At the time it seemed laughable, but after the election of Trump I now realise how pernicious a concept it really is. Think about it for a moment: if you are told that it is OK not to trust experts, then who do you trust? Your "gut instinct" based on your own limited experience? Or the politicians telling you that experts are wrong and they are right?

Nowhere is the contrast between experts and lay-people more obvious than in the TV shows The Great British Bake Off and Strictly Come Dancing.

In the Bake Off there are 2 judges. They set the challenges, they taste the bakes, they choose a winner. Simple. Who better to decide the winner of a baking contest than the only 2 people who have tasted the results? And yet, look at the outrage on social media when people's favourite baker gets eliminated from the show. People actually stop watching (or say they do) because they disagree with the judges decisions. People who have not tasted the results... and probably don't even bake themselves at all.

On Strictly it is different. There is a panel of judges who have some influence
on the result, but ultimately the winner is decided by a public vote. The hosts actually tell you to "vote for your favourite" if you want to keep them in. So it is not a dancing competition as such, it is a popularity contest. In contrast with the Bake Off, my mother actually stopped watching Strictly because the best dancer didn't win... she hated the fact that the public vote trumped the judges.

Even worse; on Strictly the studio audience actually boo judges who make critical comments about dancers they like; and cheer judges who say nice things.

So in our popular culture there is an atmosphere that experts are at odds with the public and that public opinion, democracy, must win out.

Why? Because people are lazy. If you see something you don't agree with, then it is easier to ignore it or label it "fake news" than to check its accuracy. Experts don't always agree, so it is easier to ignore them, or pick the one you instinctively agree with, than to weigh up the different arguments and come to an informed opinion.

This is an area where mainstream media like the BBC are letting the public down. Instead of pandering to the 8 second attention span with shorter and shorter pieces, repeated over and over again. They should be offering an alternative to the intellectual deserts of social media.

Examine the experts. Become meta-experts if you like. Help the non-experts of the public to explore the options in as neutral a way as possible.

Worry less about politics and focus on facts. Lets stop reporting people's opinions as news. I really don't care what anyone says on Twitter.

People get stuck in social media bubbles that feed their own prejudices back at them in amplified form. It is toxic. But most people realise this and would like something better... at least some of the time.

Experts are not people who seek to control you. They are people who have worked and studied in a subject for a long time and understand it better than most people. Why would I think I know best on anything relating to economics or medicine or science or agriculture? I know a few things... but nothing about those subjects.

Michael Gove is a back-stabbing manipulating creep who shouldn't be in a position to make decisions over anyone's life. Let's deliver the ultimate smack down by learning to trust experts again.