How Important Are the Opinions of Experts in the Search for Knowledge?

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"How important are the opinions of experts in the search for knowledge?" “A person can be an expert in any field of knowledge or a master of many material skills and accomplishments and it is that expert whom we depend on.” (Sri Sathya Sai Baba)[1]. First of all we would start by defining the key words “expert” and ‘important”. The word 'expert' was actually the adjectival form of the word 'experience' — it is the older form of the word 'experienced', now made into a noun. The word 'important' actually means 'having import (i.e., significance)'. Therefore our question should actually be "How significant are the opinions of the experienced in the search for knowledge?" In this essay, the focal areas of knowledge are the natural sciences and ethics and the focal ways of knowing are perception and reasoning. In the natural sciences, the scientific method is implemented by scientists (the experts) to test various hypotheses and draw conclusions from collected results, which overall contributes to the explosive growth of scientific knowledge. Because of this, they are highly experienced and specialized in this area and we are dependant on them when it comes to acquiring scientific knowledge. Ethics on the other hand deals with how we come to our judgments and are able to determine what is right or wrong not only from the ways of knowing but also from a potential expert. It all comes down to a matter of opinion and trust. When pursuing knowledge one must not only depend on his/her personal views but should also turn to an expert for their opinion who usually has access to a wider pool of information about that particular field. Nevertheless, it still does not imply that the opinions of experts are always correct so they cannot just be blindly trusted. The criteria for an expert varies by occupations and fields; generally, those who are more focused in one domain have

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