Experts! What Good Are They?

My friend Dave invited me to go fishing with him not long ago. I confess I’m not much of a fisherman but the chance to be with a good friend, and the opportunity to spend time outdoors, made my decision an easy one. I quickly jumped on his invitation.

Our fishing adventure started at 5:30 in the morning on a cloudy, warm day. We drove for about 30 minutes to the mouth of the St. Johns River, Florida’s longest river, where it flows into the Atlantic Ocean. Once we arrived at our site, across from the Naval Air Station, we unloaded our gear and trekked about 200 yards or so where we would spend the morning casting our lines into the water and hoping to land dinner.

Immediately, I was struck by all the fishing equipment my friend had brought. Since I didn’t even own a fish hook to my name, Dave brought enough for the two of us. My friend loves to fish and has spent a considerable amount of time and money perfecting his craft. Walking down the river bank to our spot we were loaded with gear like two pack mules. I wondered how on earth we would make it back to the car if we caught any fish.

When we finally reached the place where Dave said the fish had been recently biting, he began to explain to me how to cast the line, what kind of bait to use, where the fish most likely would be, and even what kind of fish we might catch—redfish, black drum, flounder, spotted sea trout, tarpon, whiting, croaker, mangrove snapper, sheepshead, and ladyfish to name just a few of the many that might be found in the river. We might even catch a shark! I would let my good friend take that sharp-toothed guy off my hook!

What a privilege to receive tutelage from a first-class expert in angling. My friend talked about each of the fish, their characteristics, how they tasted, the best way to cook the fish and so much more. After a while, my head was spinning.

He then showed me how to cast and where to cast. He said you could watch the water and detect where the fish might be. I listened closely but forgot so much of what he was trying to teach me.

Finally, we cast our lines into the river. Almost immediately my friend Dave had a bite and reeled in a Jack Crevalle. He gently took the hook out of the fish’s mouth and threw it back into the water. Apparently, it wasn’t the right kind of fish, he said. I could swear I saw a grin on that fish’s mouth before he happily swam away!

Jack Crevalle

For the next three hours we pulled in several fish (mostly Dave) and threw them back into the river, even hooking one blue crab. Well, actually, the crab just got tangled up in our line. I enjoyed learning about the various species that inhabit the river and tried to remember a few of the things my friend taught me. I would never become an expert like my fishing buddy, but I greatly appreciated his patient instruction.

I’ve been thinking about our fishing trip for several days now. How would I have done without Dave’s guidance? Without a doubt, the day would have been a total disaster. I wouldn’t have known where to fish, how to fish, or known which fish to keep and which to throw back in. My expert guide made the day pleasant, enjoyable, and profitable.

Experts can make a difference, can’t they? Regardless of the field, men and women who have trained, studied, and have the experience in particular areas can make life for all of us so much better. Without the experts we would all be a lot worse off.  

For some reason there is a movement in our country to downplay the importance of experts, even to see them as threats to our way of life. This distrust of the experts can be seen in the firings of medical professionals in the CDC and NIH, simply because their professional expertise calls attention to inconvenient truths that partisan politicians find disagreeable.

The cuts in scientific research grants, minimizing the importance of vaccines, slashing funding to universities, and the rejection of climate science all portend ominous days ahead for our country if these trends continue. When a country turns its back on the experts, those who have the background and experience to intelligently shape public policy, that country forfeits its future and slides into mediocrity.

Sure, the experts can be wrong, and sometimes are. Still, I would much rather place my confidence in the advice of medical experts or dedicated scientist, people who have spent years in training, than someone who has a law degree, who mistakenly believes that vaccines are harmful, or a politician who tries to score points with his partisan base by delegitimizing proven science.

If needing open-heart surgery, would you trust your life to a lawyer or an experienced surgeon? If needing an efficacious vaccine, would you rather put your faith in a politician or a dedicated research scientist?

I have hope that one day our country will wake up from our anti-intellectual stupor and realize that we have taken a wrong turn. In our fast-paced, highly technological world today, we are reliant on experts, people who have dedicated their lives to serve as guides for the rest of us. Education, competency, honesty, professionalism, peer evaluation, and teamwork are the characteristics that America needs in its leaders. Anything less is hazardous to our future way of life.

We have valued the scientist, physician, professor, engineer and other professional experts throughout our nation’s history. We have achieved remarkable success in the world by paying close attention to their informed leadership. Hopefully, one day, we will again.