I grew up in the '60s and was surrounded by the popular message to Question Authority! Think for yourself! Don't Believe "The Man"!!
It was a time of tremendous civil unrest as it became clear that people in powerful positions, such as politicians, weren't always telling the whole truth. Blind obedience had lost its appeal.
In contrast, I was raised by two parents who expected pretty much absolute obedience to their designated codes of conduct. I was not allowed to "backtalk" my parents -- or any adult, for that matter. I was expected to be courteous and respectful to all authority figures, such as teachers and policemen and doctors. It was explained to me that most of these professionals were educated and trained in their fields, and if I wanted that degree of respect when I got older, I could pursue an education (and live a respectable life), and then people might hold me in the same sort of esteem.
Then came the Internet.
I suppose it's more far-reaching than that, and it's really not fair to dump all the blame on the poor maligned Internet, which has brought us such delightful advances as the ability to complete all of our Christmas shopping from the privacy of our own home, never even having to change out of our pajamas.
Still, as they say, "A little knowledge is a dangerous thing."
So it's not terribly surprising that some people might take a few isolated data points and construct an entire theory and plan based on that information -- sometimes, misinformation. But I guess what does surprise me is how widespread and exaggerated this trend has become.
Let me say outright: I am an authority figure. I'm a veterinarian, and I give people the benefit of my education, training and experience all day long on my job. And bias? Yes, probably. I try to minimize that, but I am, after all, only human. As is your own veterinarian, and your physician, and your plumber, and your car mechanic. All human beings, not perfect.
But you know what else isn't perfect? The internet. It's become such a panacea that you can now find justification and support for any opinion or position you might choose to espouse. I once found a website that said it's a good idea to feed wolf-dog hybrids coffee grounds. (It's not.)
This is not a post to bash the Internet. The Internet is just words and images, which we are all free to look at or not, interpret in our own way. What does bother me, however, is the burgeoning proliferation of the Instant Expert. People read a few things online, or talk to a few friends or relatives, and suddenly, their expertise is equivalent to yours. Or mine.
 |
| (and someone else's niche, as well) |
Here are a few examples just from this past weekend at my veterinary clinic:
1. A dog who has been having seizures and not regulated well on his medications. The owner was giving the medications entirely on her own schedule (once a day, twice a day, morning or evening, y'know... whenever) because her friend told her that was OK. (It's not.)
2. A puppy whose bones and muscles aren't developing properly because the family has been feeding only a home-cooked diet (not nutritionally complete or balanced), because they feel all commercially prepared dog foods are poison. (They aren't.)
3. A dog who is having terrible urinary leakage & resultant skin infections because the owner read somewhere that the medication she'd been giving causes cancer. (It doesn't.)
None of these people consulted a veterinarian before making their decisions. And after finally having consulted me (because their own plans aren't working), I'm quite certain all three of them are going to continue doing exactly what they have been doing, in spite of my very specific advice to the contrary. Honestly, I don't even know why they bothered to come in to see me. It wasn't the money, which is frequently an obstacle for proper veterinary care; it was a sense of superiority -- the victory at thinking they'd caught me out in trying to scam them into something that would actually harm their pets' health.
And it's not confined to the veterinary field. I met a charming young woman just yesterday who is pursuing a double major in French and Philosophy. When I asked her what she wanted to do after undergrad, she said she'd been thinking about becoming a doctor. When I asked why, she said she'd recently had some health problems and she didn't want to have to trust what doctors were telling her for the rest of her life. Do you like science and math? I asked. Not really, she replied.
This, to me, is the new arrogance. I'll set aside my minor gripe at the idea that anyone can just "become a doctor," as if there's no actual work or studying or skill involved. But more importantly, it's the idea that any given person can know exactly as much as any other given person, in all fields, and therefore there aren't any "experts" anymore. There's just your opinion and mine. Equal.
I'm not sure what exactly I think this implies about modern society, but I must say, I don't like it one bit. For one thing, there seems to be a lack of appreciation for context. A single opinion or blog post may be interesting, but without context [I'll confine myself to veterinary examples, since they are most convenient, plentiful and immediately familiar to me] can be difficult to determine the true relevance. What a layperson might fail to grasp is that I not only have read textbooks and articles concerning diabetes (as perhaps the client has), but I have also attended countless hours at continuing education conferences, shared the experience of my colleagues, and have my own twenty-year history of individual cases and expertise to draw from.
And the trend seems to be getting worse. These days, as I'm talking to clients, I can see it in their eyes as I'm talking to them: Doubt. Challenge. Incredulity. I've given them no reason to doubt me, yet they do, simply because I'm telling them something different from something they've already heard or read and accepted as truer than whatever it is that I'm saying. Or perhaps just on the same level, as I said earlier. My professional opinion, expertise, experience carries no weight against their own "research."
The ironic thing about all this is that I am the last person who would tell anyone not to become educated about matters that are important to them. But what seems to be lacking is any sort of braking system -- humility, perhaps. The slightest notion that maybe you don't know everything and should listen with an open mind. I am not one for lock-step marching to the beat of a dictator -- I am, as I said at the outset, a child of the '60s, after all.
 |
| (Not me, except in spirit) |
And I also don't want to sound like this is yet another rant against the Millenial generation. In my fifty years on Earth, it seems to me that I've always heard older people grumbling about younger people: lazy, irresponsible, disrespectful. -- No, this trend of the Instant Expert spans the age groups, and I'm just as likely to catch attitude from a septuagenarian as I am a young hipster. And they both address me by my first name at our first meeting, a trend I also resent, but I'll save that for another post.
Maybe, like many other things, it stems from fear. Trust is hard. And having to trust the fate of valued things: your dog, your money, your wife's ovaries.... to someone else? Maybe that's scary. I mean, it is, right? But here are just a few things I'm never going to know enough about to do them myself: auto mechanics, electrical wiring, (human) dental work, financial investing. I have to trust these people to know their jobs. And no matter how many issues of Popular Mechanics, or Electricity Today that I read, I will never have a mechanic's or electrician's level of understanding, training, experience, and context with which to make the best decision on any given day.
Besides, if I'm working so hard to be an actual expert at everything, I won't have any time left over to hang out with these guys, which I would much much rather do.
You, too. Give yourself a break. Trust a little. And whatever you're reading or hearing out there? We could all use just a bit more salt in our diets, don't you think? Maybe just a grain or two??
