Patrick Wyman: We’re not dealing with a crisis of expertise itself as much as a crisis of explanation. Far too many disciplines (most notably, epidemiology and public health over the last year) have run face-first into their inability to make the general public understand what they’re saying and why. .. All disciplines have their own technical... See more

Packy McCormick: We live in a world where expertise can be justly claimed by anyone who can continue to prove it. Synthesis and storytelling are the keys to navigating that world. In a world with so much information available and fewer unquestioned experts, the ability to let large amounts of information wash over you, figure out where to dive... See more

Expertise isn’t going anywhere: we’re just finding new ways to measure and signal it.

Without the academic formality and pressure to uphold institutional reputation, experts now share their knowledge in ways that are decidedly more engaging and even non-academic — say, humorous memes or storytelling devices to explain concepts — across podcast episodes, newsletters, YouTube videos, TikTok clips, and Twitter threads.

Gabby Dizon: This shattering of the “geographic lottery” — where you win the location lottery merely by being born where you are, as opposed to showing your expertise from where you are — is now being helped along by the ongoing construction of crypto infrastructure.

Right now, we’re either witnessing a golden age of expertise or a crisis of expertise, depending on who you ask. It’s undeniable that technology has democratized access to high-quality information, data, and tools for research, creation, and distribution.

Andy Coravos: When people ask what you do, they really seem to be asking who you are, putting the attention on people’s credentials within institutions (the nouns) rather than on their actions and contributions (how they live, work, and cultivate knowledge in their fields). Expertise is equated with the former, when it should be more about the... See more

David Lang: Most scientists are under tremendous pressure to constantly publish. That realization caused me to view scientific expertise through the lens of incentives. I’m nervous to use that language, because it’s the same line that conspiracy theorists use to deny and obfuscate facts, but I do think it’s the fault line.

Auren Hoffman: It used to be that “who you know” — not “what you know” — held the most value. But in the last 15 years, it has become much more important to build something than to know people.