Scott Kamps
Many bemoan that the death of expertise will lead to destruction of democratic society – but is it possible an overemphasis on specialization will actually be our undoing?
I’m grateful for much expertise. In our day of gadgets, conveniences and medical progress, we rely on many experts/specialists. I have a child with health issues who wouldn’t be alive without endocrinologists, hematologists and cardiologists. I drive over the Ted Jordan Bridge everyday; I’m thankful expert engineers inspect it regularly to ensure its safety.
While expertise/specialization is necessary and good for our society, inordinate focus on expertise has led to an unhealthy desire for credentials.
Credentials for clinics or pharmacies are virtually non-existent in some third-world countries, revealing the value of credentials, but our society is starting to look to credentials/specialists disproportionately – even unreasonably – dumbing us down to a point that looks ridiculous.
An obvious example happened during the Ketanji Brown Jackson confirmation hearings. Sen. Blackburn asked the Supreme Court nominee, “Can you provide a definition for the word ‘woman’?”
Jackson, looking confused, responded, “I’m not a biologist.”
It’s stupefying that a highly-educated, now-Supreme Court Justice was unable to define a woman. But USA Today reported on the exchange, quoting “gender experts” who said it’s actually a “complex” question with no simple answer.
I guess I got lucky that I married a woman … on the first try!
When Richard Dawkins said, “As a biologist, there are two sexes, and that’s all there is to it,” his Humanist of the Year Award was taken away, illustrating there’s a deeper problem than lack of knowledge/expertise. We see how false ideological convictions can be blinding rather than enlightening. This highlights the importance of looking at facts and away from propaganda.
Gender ideology tries to separate biological sex from “gender,” creating a philosophy incompatible with reality (“pregnant men”). My point is that such ideologies – when tenaciously held – lead to extreme blindness that make “experts” look foolish.
Examples abound of ideological experts seeking to lead the masses. A prominent one is seen in the Left’s control of public schools colliding with parental rights. Are parents or “experts” better equipped to educate children?
Former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe infamously said, “I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach.” That sentiment likely cost him the governorship, but it’s the Progressive view by and large.
Should parents have no say in whether their kids are indoctrinated with Critical Race Theory?
Should “expert” librarians be free to fill school libraries with inappropriate sexual material?
Should education “specialists” have the authority to keep parents in the dark about children “transitioning” at school?
The last example is particularly atrocious: should “experts” defer to parents in regard to their own children or should they defy parents, treating them like problems to overcome and enemies of progress?
Parents know their children best, care most for them and have the primary responsibility for raising them.
Let’s not trust “expertise” to the point of neglecting common sense – especially in regard to raising our posterity.
Scott Kamps writes a bi-weekly column for The Graham Star. He can be reached via email, thestableguy@frontier.com.