What the Hell is an "Expert?"

What is an expert? For that matter, why don't we trust them? In this week's episode I interview Jamie Carlin Watson, a bioethicist and professor with a whole host of academic credentials at the end of his name who also happens to be an expert on the very notion of expertise. We discuss the madness that gripped the world during the COVID-19 epidemic, the fall of credentialism and why both of us have zoom backgrounds full of prestigious looking books to show how smart we are.

Find out more about Jamie Carlin Watson on his website:
https://jamiecarlinwatson.com/

#expertise #covid #bioethics

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Scott Carney Investigates Podcast
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Books:
⁠The Wedge⁠
https://www.scottcarney.com/the-wedge

⁠What Doesn't Kill Us⁠
https://www.scottcarney.com/what-doesnt-kill-us

⁠The Enlightenment Trap⁠
https://www.scottcarney.com/the-enlightenment-trap

The Vortex
https://www.scottcarney.com/the-vortex

The Red Market
https://www.scottcarney.com/the-red-market

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00:00 Introduction
06:04 Skepticism & life success.
09:06 Challenging beliefs.
09:31 Vaccines importance for COVID.
12:38 Reactions to identity-related issues.
18:00 Authority of Knowledge
20:31 Becoming an expert.
21:05 Uncertainty of Medicine during COVID
22:53 Medicine's uncertainty.
27:00 Medical research works to treat conditions with expert judgment.
28:04 Mistakes in medical care are unavoidable and liability for them is expected.
29:25 Identifying experts.
29:46 Healthcare ethics consulting credentials.
36:00 Expertise & control futility.
36:53 Investing in one's interests for well-being.
38:39 Responsibility to others in preventing spread of Covid-19.
43:32 Authority & knowledge in public health crisis.
45:01 Govt ignoring experts in pandemic.
45:56 Comp. of polit. & expert auth. in pandemic response.
45:59 CDC experts disagree on masks effectiveness.
54:04 Qualitative statements matter more than quantitative in science
54:39 Conflict of Interest & Authority of Expert
55:38 Uncertainty in medical research.
57:32 Incentives to falsify scientific results.
01:03:55 Appreciating someone for their time.
01:04:20 Moral Expertise
01:04:47 Patreon and no ad revenue.

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