Everyones an expert
Have you ever noticed how we as people grant an overwhelming importance and subsequently display an overriding dependence on so called expert opinions in our daily lives? In fact, even very fundamental aspects of our worldview such as developing nascent beliefs or even giving acquiesce to a particular object/action/person are largely moulded by the “experts” around us.
Take for instance the craze we exhibit for award shows, be it the Oscars/Filmfare, Grammies, Bookers, Miss World, Nobel prizes, the list is endless.
But the truth of the matter is that every single individual is biased. I am not alluding to a conspiracy theory of deceit and corruption but an underlying human fact. Every single individual’s outlook is heavily skewed and this is primarily because of the unique set of circumstances and stimuli he/she has been exposed to throughout their lives. This is a continuous process that results in a constantly evolving set of individual characteristics. This bias is not limited only to some of these fundamentals, but it is a fact that a particular individual if exposed a particular stimulus at different times of the day, under varying ambience or in different moods will display differing reactions to the stimulus. Thus, there is a multitude of factors that go in forming judgement about a particular stimulus.
The above mentioned award shows dole out honours on the recommendation of a panel basically consisting of a set of inherently biased individuals expressing a very personal (thus naturally biased) opinion, about highly subjective (thus open to biases) subject matter. Two wrongs don’t make a right, and a series of flaws in a system certainly do not make it correct, but in fact render the entire system and its outcome, essentially, meaningless.
If I have watched a movie which I have found to be the best I have ever seen but the “expert” panel at the Oscars deems it unfit to even qualify for an award, should that detract from my experience or opinion of that movie? Or, conversely must an Oscar wining movie about, say, a dysfunctional American family (American beauty) necessarily evoke a special interest in me?
Must my opinion of Eminem, whose lyrics I can barely understand let alone identify with or appreciate change when he wins several Grammys?
I couldn’t go past 30 pages of Orhan Pamuk’s Nobel winning piece of literature – “My name is Red,” even after two enthusiastic attempts. Does that mean I am an imbecile?
I have seen photographs of the Mona Lisa. At the risk of confirming my stupidity beyond all doubt, I will share with you my hitherto closely guarded secret – I really didn’t think much of it. In fact, with all due respect to Mr. da Vinci, I fail to see what all the fuss is about. But as it the best painting ever painted (I do not know who decided this) I am pretty certain that the next time I find myself in Paris I will join the over 6,000,000 annual visitors at the Louvre for a rendezvous with Ms. Lisa.
Thus I should opine that expert opinions and award shows are completely irrelevant to me and possibly this hypothesis will hold true across the multitudes. One size cannot possibly fit all no matter how much we try to make it so. And thus the opinion of another however highly decorated cannot take precedence over our own.
Yet the fact of the matter is that movie and record sales jump after winning an award, beauty queens become messiahs and Nobel laureates, legends. And the ironic part is that it is we the multitudes, for whom all this is irrelevant, confer this status upon them.
“It is not the medium, but the quality of perception and expression that determines the significance of art” – Bill Waterson
Take for instance the craze we exhibit for award shows, be it the Oscars/Filmfare, Grammies, Bookers, Miss World, Nobel prizes, the list is endless.
But the truth of the matter is that every single individual is biased. I am not alluding to a conspiracy theory of deceit and corruption but an underlying human fact. Every single individual’s outlook is heavily skewed and this is primarily because of the unique set of circumstances and stimuli he/she has been exposed to throughout their lives. This is a continuous process that results in a constantly evolving set of individual characteristics. This bias is not limited only to some of these fundamentals, but it is a fact that a particular individual if exposed a particular stimulus at different times of the day, under varying ambience or in different moods will display differing reactions to the stimulus. Thus, there is a multitude of factors that go in forming judgement about a particular stimulus.
The above mentioned award shows dole out honours on the recommendation of a panel basically consisting of a set of inherently biased individuals expressing a very personal (thus naturally biased) opinion, about highly subjective (thus open to biases) subject matter. Two wrongs don’t make a right, and a series of flaws in a system certainly do not make it correct, but in fact render the entire system and its outcome, essentially, meaningless.
If I have watched a movie which I have found to be the best I have ever seen but the “expert” panel at the Oscars deems it unfit to even qualify for an award, should that detract from my experience or opinion of that movie? Or, conversely must an Oscar wining movie about, say, a dysfunctional American family (American beauty) necessarily evoke a special interest in me?
Must my opinion of Eminem, whose lyrics I can barely understand let alone identify with or appreciate change when he wins several Grammys?
I couldn’t go past 30 pages of Orhan Pamuk’s Nobel winning piece of literature – “My name is Red,” even after two enthusiastic attempts. Does that mean I am an imbecile?
I have seen photographs of the Mona Lisa. At the risk of confirming my stupidity beyond all doubt, I will share with you my hitherto closely guarded secret – I really didn’t think much of it. In fact, with all due respect to Mr. da Vinci, I fail to see what all the fuss is about. But as it the best painting ever painted (I do not know who decided this) I am pretty certain that the next time I find myself in Paris I will join the over 6,000,000 annual visitors at the Louvre for a rendezvous with Ms. Lisa.
Thus I should opine that expert opinions and award shows are completely irrelevant to me and possibly this hypothesis will hold true across the multitudes. One size cannot possibly fit all no matter how much we try to make it so. And thus the opinion of another however highly decorated cannot take precedence over our own.
Yet the fact of the matter is that movie and record sales jump after winning an award, beauty queens become messiahs and Nobel laureates, legends. And the ironic part is that it is we the multitudes, for whom all this is irrelevant, confer this status upon them.
“It is not the medium, but the quality of perception and expression that determines the significance of art” – Bill Waterson
posted by kg at 12:57 PM
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