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The Death of Expertise

The Campaign Against Established Knowledge and Why It Matters

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The Death of Expertise

Written by: Tom Nichols
Narrated by: Sean Pratt
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People are now exposed to more information than ever before, provided both by technology and by increasing access to every level of education. These societal gains, however, have also helped fuel a surge in narcissistic and misguided intellectual egalitarianism that has crippled informed debates on any number of issues.

Today, everyone knows everything and all voices demand to be taken with equal seriousness, and any claim to the contrary is dismissed as undemocratic elitism. Tom Nichols shows this rejection of experts has occurred for many reasons, including the openness of the Internet, the emergence of a customer satisfaction model in higher education, and the transformation of the news industry into a 24-hour entertainment machine.

Paradoxically, the increasingly democratic dissemination of information, rather than producing an educated public, has instead created an army of ill-informed and angry citizens who denounce intellectual achievement.

Nichols notes that when ordinary citizens believe that no one knows more than anyone else, democratic institutions themselves are in danger of falling either to populism or to technocracy - or in the worst case, a combination of both.

©2017 Oxford University Press (P)2017 Tantor
Education History & Culture Ideologies & Doctrines Media Studies Philosophy Sociology
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What the critics say

"A sharp analysis of an increasingly pressing problem." ( Kirkus)

What listeners say about The Death of Expertise

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Should be Required Reading for High School

I wish I would have read this when I was 20. My only criticism is a little too long winded at times.

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Mind Blowing!

As a professional, this is a must read to reaffirm your place on the world. #Audible1

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Book is Very Repetitive & Boring

I purchased this title based on the recommendation of a podcast. I fell asleep when I tried to listen to it. It ran all night long. It was interesting to start but became redundant. I believe I tried more than once to listen to it. I was going to return it but apparently I waited too long. Now I am stuck with a book that is only good as a sleeping pill. If you want to read this book I would recommend buying it as a paperback or hard copy as the author does have some good points.

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If you enjoy Jordan Peterson et al, you'll like this book

An interesting read until chapter 5, in which the author embarked on a snide, disdainful, pedantic diatribe about soft, self-aggrandizing American youth.

The contempt in which the author holds (his) students, and in particular student activists, is as deep as it is predictable. The author is another in a long, unbroken line of (certain) individuals who believe their lens - steeped in racial, gender, and socioeconomic privilege, among many others - offers the only balanced, unbiased view of the "real world."

What could have been an important lesson in understanding (and thus combating) the cult of ignorance, devolved into a personal essay whinging over the diminishing of the author's perceived rightful status in society.

Sean Pratt, however, did an exceptional job narrating, as always.

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