In his book, The Death of Expertise: The Campaign against Established Knowledge and Why It Matters, Tom Nichols writes: “One of the most important characteristics of an expert is the ability to remain dispassionate. Experts must treat everything from cancer to nuclear war as problems to be solved with detachment and objectivity.”
Most people, and especially SMEs, prefer sobriety and objectivity when dealing with critical issues. Emotions often lead to irrational arguments, erroneous conclusions, and bad decisions. Consequently, many of the world’s greatest thinkers recommend, like Nichols, that experts should exercise restraint.
Dr. Marcia Angell, former editor-in-chief of the New England Journal of Medicine, for example, wrote that the appointment of a dispassionate panel of experts to evaluate the strength of scientific evidence is a model that should be emulated.54 Other critics have said something similar.
Ironically, Nichols is hardly dispassionate himself. On the contrary, he is a highly passionate person who is not shy about sharing his opinions. Of his book, the Financial Times wrote, “His anger is a lot more attractive than the standard condescension.” It is no surprise that the first testimonial printed inside the book starts with the word “impassioned.”
As an author on the subject of expertise, Nichols made an impassioned plea for experts to be dispassionate. I love that. This paradox is not unique to Nichols or his book. All SMEs must face the dilemma of emotional response. On one hand, we expect our experts to be poker-faced and objective. On the other hand, passion is often more persuasive than logic.
While Nichols espouses dispassion in the face of cancer or even nuclear war, I for one believe that cancer and nuclear war warrant a little passion. Many of the same people who want experts to be solid as bedrock also want them to be ardent and spirited. We need our experts to show fire in the belly and a twinkle in the eye. Sometimes SMEs are most effective with a voice of thunder that shakes the earth. Winston Churchill was not trying to show his dispassionate side when he said, “Never give in, never, never, never—never, in nothing, great or small, large or petty—never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense.”
Experts need to be dispassionate yet passionate, gentle yet forceful, humble yet brimming with confidence. Tom Nichols offered sound advice when he said that experts should have the ability to remain dispassionate, but he also showed through example that they must also have the wisdom to go beyond unemotional detachment when appropriate.
