It’s constantly surprising to me how promiscuously Americans use the term “expert.” An expert is someone who has comprehensive knowledge of a subject or total mastery of a skill. We all recognize such people—the guy who repaired my roof last year is an expert, I think, because you can’t perform the job better than he did. But the sheer variety of people termed “experts” today is enough to make you ponder the term’s meaning. A quick Google News search suggests there are experts on pets, human rights, security, technology, travel, housing, North Korea, climate change, and education. One recent news story began this way: “In authorizing the use of the ‘Mother of All Bombs’ against ISIS, some experts believe President Trump could be focusing more on making statements than leading policy.” The term is meaningless here; no form of specialized skill or mastery of process can enhance the authority of such an unverifiable opinion: The experts’ claim would have just as much validity in the mouth of a bartender or hamburger-flipper.
But by the lights of the American news media, ours is a nation teeming with experts of every variety, a nation dominated and governed by experts: an expertocracy. You could probably chart its rise by documenting the spread not of the word expert, but of its rough equivalent, the word professional. At one time there were only three professions: law, medicine, and the church; the word “profession” signified the solemn declaration or promise you made in order to practice in these fields. Now the term is synonymous with livelihood or even job. So everybody is a professional—an expert—at the thing he or she happens to do from 8:30 to 5 on weekdays.
