{"id":123312,"date":"2018-12-21T14:42:43","date_gmt":"2018-12-21T22:42:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/?p=123312"},"modified":"2018-12-21T14:42:50","modified_gmt":"2018-12-21T22:42:50","slug":"why-you-should-ignore-experts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/2018\/12\/21\/why-you-should-ignore-experts\/","title":{"rendered":"Why You Should Ignore Experts"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Ignore experts; only trust yourself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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Most experts are insecure nerds<\/h2>\n

Experts rely on "studies", which assume that all humans are more similar than dissimilar. Or worse, they assume all humans are alike. And they write-off unique individuals as "outliers", and cross them out, and delete them from their data (to make their formulas and findings more clean and tidy).<\/p>\n

Everyone has a hidden motive<\/h2>\n

All experts have a hidden motive.<\/p>\n

For example, a lot of experts were bullied nerds growing up, and they yield their knowledge as a form of power; to use their "smartness" as a weapon to prove others wrong via debating, arguing, and dialectics (Socrates and Plato).<\/p>\n

Most experts aren’t interested in the "truth". They’re interested in flexing their own intelligence, as a form of "virtue signaling" (Nassim Taleb).<\/p>\n

You’re the easiest person to fool<\/h2>\n

Also the problem is this, the more expert you become, the more easily you get fooled by yourself. Richard Feynman said it best, "You’re the easiest person to fool."<\/p>\n

And consider the more respected and expert you become, the more "yes men" make you think that your wisdom is infallible.<\/p>\n

The truly wise are constantly skeptical; skeptical of others, and even more skeptical of themselves.<\/p>\n

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What is an expert?<\/h2>\n

An expert is someone with experience. Latin is "experior<\/a>": trying to discover truth via trial and error, testing, in order to prove something.<\/p>\n

But we shouldn’t always trust experts, even if they have more experience than us. Why? Often individuals with lots of experience become tunnel-visioned, and have a hard time thinking "outside the box". Kind of how Steve Jobs said that usually individuals over the age of 30 start to carve deep grooves in their mind (like vinyl records), and have a difficult time to think "outside the box".<\/p>\n

Or as Kanye West has said,<\/p>\n

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No more squares in my circle.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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Takeaways<\/h2>\n

Anyways, here are some practical takeaways:<\/p>\n

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  1. Ignore experts. Honestly it’s more fun to discover the truth for yourself.<\/li>\n
  2. Good to read "tips", because you can either take it or leave it.<\/li>\n
  3. When experts give you unsolicited advice, ignore their advice.<\/li>\n
  4. Seek to become an expert on yourself (know thyself).<\/li>\n
  5. Trust yourself more than others.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    ERIC<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n