“When There Are No Experts” by J Bostock

An average person in the western world probably believes a lot of false things. They probably don't have a great grasp of political economy, or orbital mechanics. How could they, given that they have no way to experience these things. Conversely, they do have a solid grasp that objects fall down, and that fire is hot, because they can experience these things directly. So how on earth do they know (and I do mean know in the philosophical sense) that the earth goes round the sun, or that diseases are caused by tiny creatures too small to see? The answer is experts. More specifically, an expertise hierarchy. I I had a twitter exchange (I won't link it, it's not important, and I can't find it anyway) that went something like this: Person: David Chalmers is an expert on consciousness [...] Me: I don't think there are experts on consciousness; I think there are people who have written a lot about it, and that's it Person: Why? Surely someone who has written about it, and who is well-respected, can be called an expert Me: [bad explanation] The fact that it was about consciousness doesn't really matter. The question of whether [...] --- Outline: (00:48) I (01:58) II (03:11) III (04:21) IV (05:40) V The original text contained 2 footnotes which were omitted from this narration. --- First published: August 25th, 2026 Source: https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/HTQcogA2r2kL8qxPA/when-there-are-no-experts --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.