Experts provide valuable insight and information to further people's knowledge, as seen through philosophers like Plato who established definitions that still influence people today. However, experts are still human and subject to the same limitations of emotion and perception as ordinary people. Their opinions can be swayed by emotion or constrained by only seeing things from their limited perspective, potentially overlooking important realities or coming to incorrect conclusions like Marie Curie regarding the effects of radium. While experts expand understanding, their views should not be taken as absolute truth and should still be questioned rather than blindly followed.

1. RaeAnne Smith
Senior Seminar
Clover: Period 6
How important are the opinions of experts in the search for knowledge?
Expert opinions, such as those of scientists, doctors, professors at universities, and
philosophers among many others provide the basis of the knowledge that everyday citizens have.
These experts do extended research on the topics of knowledge and share their discoveries with
the world. Seeing them as experts, people take their word as the truth. Experts have done the
world favors, especially in the areas of science. The field of science has expanded tremendously
in the last one hundred years, thanks to these experts. However, experts are subject to any and
every of the same fallacies that affect everyday citizens. Although experts provide insight to
people in their search for knowledge, it should not be overlooked that they are subject to the
same fallacies especially in the ways of knowing of emotion and perception.
Experts provide information and insight in certain topics that everyday people are not
aware of. One example of an expert providing evidence to people is the well-known philosopher,
Plato. Plato came up with the definition of knowledge as "K=JTB" or knowledge equals justified
true belief. This means that in order to have knowledge, one must also claim to have the truth,
believe it to be truth and that this true belief must have justification. Plato's definition of the truth
is very objective and absolute. Plato also believes that the only way one can have true knowledge
is through math, which is rational and absolute and that every other subject such as language,
history or science, is limited to fallacies and cannot be used to have knowledge. Many people use
his definition as a platform for their own beliefs as well. Plato's philosophy about truth is
practical and is valuable for other people to base their ideas and beliefs off of. In this sense, the
opinions of experts are valuable in the search for knowledge.

2. Although experts can provide valuable insight in the search for knowledge, they are still
subject to the same limitations as those of normal people. One of the ways of knowing that can
affect experts is emotion. Emotion can influence a person's decision, and the consequences of
this can be negative. Their intentions can be easily swayed in the presence of emotion. Emotional
coloring can make them exclude some aspects of reality, which can have serious implications. A
world leader, such as the president of the United States, represents his country and what the
people of the country want. Emotional energy is also a factor that affects the work ethic of
everyone, including experts. If a scientist is doing research on a topic that they plan to release to
the public and they become worn out from all of the work, they would be less motivated to work
and more likely to make mistakes or perhaps manipulate data to get the results they want.
Although experts put extra effort into certain topics which make them more insightful than most
people, they are subject to the same fallacies as normal people, hindering their importance.
Experts are also affected by the fallacies associated with the way of knowing of
perception. An example of this is seen in Marie Curie. Curie was a physicist and chemist known
for her research on radioactivity. She discovered the element, Radium and found it useful for
fighting cancers. As a result, many people understood Radium to be beneficial to the body.
Radium was then used in face creams called "Tho- Radia" and "Radiator" as Radium caused the
skin to glow. Radium was also used in other common products such as watches and clocks to
make them glow in the dark. Later, it was found that the use of Radium in such ways was
extremely dangerous and resulted in the deaths of many from the effects of radiation. In this
case, Marie Curie suffered from the limitations of perception. From her five senses, Radium
appeared to be beneficial to the human body and the "glow" that it added to skin made it look
more healthy. Her perception prevented her from seeing the negative effects of the Radium that

3. ended up resulting in the deaths of many people. Although her perception was just as limited as
that of any person, regular people considered her to be an "expert" and to believe what she said
about Radium as the truth. Although experts provide people with knowledge, they still have the
same issues with perception and emotion, which limits their credibility.
Although experts help people in their search for knowledge, they should not be given full
credibility because they have the same issues with knowledge such as perception and emotion.
The word of experts should not be taken without questioning as they are not always in the right.
People should also rely on themselves and their own personal experiences to help guide them in
their search for knowledge.