Experts and Nonexperts
In our globalized, technology-driven world, we have convinced ourselves that the route to excellence and progress lies in specialization. Superficially, this trend makes sense. But the implication that everyone should become an expert in one thing is dangerous because there is untold value in knowing a little about a lot.
Recent research has shown that in a variety of situations, certain nonexperts or generalists can actually make better predictions than experts because they are better able to draw upon an eclectic array of perspectives. Such situations, of course, do not include, say, picking a surgical procedure, for which subject-matter expertise is an enormous asset. But they do include solving contemporary issues – inequality, climate change, policing – that require thinking broadly (and smartly) across many disciplines.