Experts vs Expertise

 

The other day I saw a post on Tic Tok by someone I follow and respect. In this particular post she was on a rant about people who had successfully lost a significant amount of weight, made a video about their experience and were then garnering lots of followers from among other people who were hoping to lose weight. Her objection, it seems, was that these people did not have "credentials" (she does). In other words they had not been certified as weight loss experts by virtue of their education.

Now to be clear, I have nothing against experts. For the many years I was working my consulting business, I was one. But as I re-watched her video I had several problems with her whole premise.

First of all, education and credentials may make you an expert in the sense that they certify that you have taken classes and passed tests. They are a pretty good (but not infallible) indication that you posses some specialized knowledge about something. But that really says very little about your expertise or your practical, hands on experience. Being an expert means you are knowledgeable. Having expertise means you are skilled. Clearly they are closely related but they are not the same thing. Someone can have both, or can have either one without the other.

Second, while experts do indeed posses specialized knowledge, they may or may not be capable of using that knowledge in a practical way, or even communicating it to non-experts. Someone with expertise may not have a deep understanding of the theory underpinning what they do, but they can never-the-less do it well. I doubt that the mechanics who worked on the engine of my airplane were especially well versed in fluid dynamics or thermodynamics. But they sure could keep airplane engines running. It has been shown that actual penal system inmates are more effective at making a positive impression on troubled teens than are licensed physiologists. Knowledge vs skill.

Now I am not suggesting that you steer clear of experts. Experts create new knowledge and advance our understanding. But if you want to lose weight and have a choice between a college educated nutritionist or a certified nutrition counselor who knows how to do it but has never actually had to do it themselves, or someone who has personally lost say 45 pounds and kept it off for a few years, who do you want to talk with?