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Micheal Nash, Ph. D.'s avatar

True but calling arses like Fauci an expert tars real experts by association. Ought to be an “expert test” and only those who pass entitled. Sort of a joke but….

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mike Myhre's avatar

That was my point. While he has an education, he does not fit the definition of expert since he has both been wrong and doesn't have front line experience. Hence he shouldn't be quoted as an expert.

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Micheal Nash, Ph. D.'s avatar

Why I like the word authority better. Anybody can call themself an expert and many do but the word authority tends to add specificity, as in saying he is an authority on…X. Carries more weight and points the audience towards credentials.

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mike Myhre's avatar

Yes. I will give you that. However. It was the 'authorities' that issued the lockdowns forced people to be fired and withheld viable treatments and censored speech.

Our authoritarian government is kind of a contradiction in terms when you think of it that way.

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Micheal Nash, Ph. D.'s avatar

Right. But that shows the difference. Authority implies the right to be considered expert in an area. Anybody can read 2 books on a subject and call themselves an expert. You can be an expert on several subjects but how many can even claim to be multiple authorities? Many in the news packing journalism degrees are called experts in areas they report on but are not authorities.

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mike Myhre's avatar

I guess my point is this: Trump and Biden are in positions of authority. Fauci was in a position of authority. Jay Inslee (Wa Govenor) was in a position of authority. They all used their positions and given authority to cause disasters. That doesn't mean that they were an authority on anything they were ruling on. Nor were the CDC and WHO spokespersons that they were following.

Some people don't see the difference between a position of authority and someone who is actually an authority on a topic. Perhaps we need better criteria to decide who is worthy of holding a position of power.

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Micheal Nash, Ph. D.'s avatar

We sure as blazes need a better word than expert. I like authority because its root is author. And one can be an author of a book or a policy. Those pols you mentioned did author those policies and hence are to be accountable for them..and their failures. I am an author of research papers and so can say frauds like Fauci are not authorities because every thing he has allegedly put pen to was either ghost written or the product of another’s labor. All these dudes claiming authorship of hundreds of papers, like him, are frauds. Believe me.

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mike Myhre's avatar

I agree completely.

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