Opinions of Experts in the Search for Knowledge Research Paper

Opinions of Experts in the Search for Knowledge - Research Paper Example his is where the expert and the ordinary individuals diverge, in the way they form their opinion, then acquire and interpret knowledge. Who is an Expert? According to Christine Hogan (2000), â€Å"an expert is a person with a high level of intelligence, skills or knowledge in a particular sphere, reinforced by publicity and honors by others, by research and publications† (57). A more complicated definition was posited by Kurz-Milcke and Gigerenzer (2004), who stressed that an expert is a social figure in the distribution of knowledge – those who, in comparison to most, not only have more knowledge but also are able to manage knowledge transfers (42). The authors further explained that an expert can only become an expert by way of his or her performances wherein he or she translates and integrates knowledge into popular meaning systems (42). And so, a learned person who has merely acquired knowledge but has not displayed or demonstrated his learning cannot be considered one. Society will not accord him or her the status of an expert unless work or several works were published that would support his being so. No one can claim such title or role without the explicit consent of many individuals, institutions, and organizations. It is, hence, easy, based on the previous two definitions, to identify whether one is interacting with an expert. An expert is someone who has previous knowledge or expertise on the subject and also he or she is known to have demonstrated those characteristics, one who built his reputation, translating it into status and recognition from the society he belongs. An individual will know that he is talking with an expert if that person speaks authoritatively, especially basing from his specialized skills and experiences in addition to the credibility he has earned in the society. The society reinforces this with recognition since its institutions value performance and contributions to the continuing search for knowledge. The above definitions also reveal an important variable - why an expert’s opinion is valuable and this is demonstrated in several areas of knowledge.