The Death of Expertise audiobook cover - The Campaign Against Established Knowledge and Why it Matters

The Death of Expertise

The Campaign Against Established Knowledge and Why it Matters

Tom Nichols

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The Death of Expertise
The Knowledge Crisis+
Psychological Biases+
Commodification of Education+
The Internet's Impact+
Decline of Journalism+
Fallibility of Experts+

Quiz — Test Your Understanding

Question 1 of 6
How has the internet primarily affected the relationship between experts and laypeople?
  • A. It has resolved historical conflicts by providing universal access to peer-reviewed academic journals.
  • B. It has intensified the conflict by allowing people to find sources for any opinion and empowering them to challenge established knowledge.
  • C. It has shifted societal power entirely to experts who control online search algorithms.
  • D. It has caused the general public to lose interest in engaging with complex scientific and political debates.
Question 2 of 6
According to the Dunning-Kruger effect, why do people with less skill at a task often fail to recognize their own incompetence?
  • A. They suffer from confirmation bias and only read articles that praise their specific abilities.
  • B. They lack metacognition, which is the awareness of one's own thought processes and limitations.
  • C. They are purposely misled by experts who want to maintain a monopoly on specialized knowledge.
  • D. They rely too heavily on celebrity endorsements rather than empirical scientific data.
Question 3 of 6
Which of the following best describes 'confirmation bias' as explained in the text?
  • A. The tendency to only seek out and pay attention to information that agrees with our preexisting beliefs.
  • B. The phenomenon where experts refuse to acknowledge when their scientific predictions are proven wrong.
  • C. The habit of trusting unregulated internet sources over formally educated university professors.
  • D. The process by which news websites prioritize interactive and clickable content over factual reporting.
Question 4 of 6
What is a major consequence of modern universities treating higher education as a 'product' and students as 'customers'?
  • A. A significant decrease in tuition costs due to higher competition among colleges for enrollment.
  • B. A rise in the strictness of academic grading, leading to higher failure rates across the country.
  • C. Students being intellectually coddled and experiencing severe grade inflation, leading to unearned overconfidence.
  • D. An unprecedented increase in the number of students pursuing advanced degrees in journalism and media.
Question 5 of 6
Why has the quality of modern journalism decreased with the rise of the internet, according to the book?
  • A. The government has placed strict regulations on what online journalists are allowed to publish.
  • B. The demand for clickable, interactive content has led to a prioritization of entertainment over rigorous fact-checking.
  • C. Universities are no longer teaching journalism, leading to a massive shortage of capable writers.
  • D. Readers have completely stopped sharing news articles on social media, removing the incentive to write.
Question 6 of 6
According to the text, what is a common reason why established experts sometimes make significant and public errors?
  • A. They intentionally publish fake news to drive internet traffic to their academic research papers.
  • B. They step outside of their specific field of expertise or attempt to make predictions about the future.
  • C. They rely too heavily on the Dunning-Kruger effect to formulate their initial scientific hypotheses.
  • D. They are forced to adopt the unscientific opinions of the celebrities who fund their research.

The Death of Expertise — Full Chapter Overview

The Death of Expertise Summary & Overview

The Death of Expertise (2017) examines the current attacks on science and knowledge that seem to be on the rise in our current technological and political environment. What has happened to objective truths being the truth and facts being indisputable? Why is science now a matter of political partisanship? Find out what’s really going on and why this is one of the most important issues of our day.

Who Should Listen to The Death of Expertise?

  • Citizens looking for facts rather than political rhetoric
  • Readers concerned about fake news and misinformation
  • Students of political science and communications

About the Author: Tom Nichols

Tom Nichols is a Professor of National Security Affairs at the US Naval War College, as well as an adjunct professor at the Harvard Extension School. He is a respected authority on foreign policy issues and international security, and is the author of many books on these subjects including Eve of Destruction: The Coming Age of Preventive War and The Russian Presidency.

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