The WHO's withdrawal of lockdown recommendations as a primary tool to control the spread of viruses provides some discomfiting lessons on the value of "experts" in our lives.
Let me begin by stating I'm not anti-expert and don't mean to denigrate what true experts bring to the table. We rely on experts because it's sensible to trust those with the training, knowledge, and skilled expertise we lack to complete certain tasks faster and better. Good experts provide incredible value and society couldn't survive without them.
Still, experts are people like you and me and are just as capable of making mistakes as we are. This is why we tend to pick and choose experts based on our experience with them or, lacking those interactions, from the recommendations of others we trust. Recommendations based on what? The experiences or beliefs of others.
