[WikiEN-l] What is an "expert"?

[David Gerard]

On 19/01/07, Marc Riddell <michaeldavid86 at comcast.net> wrote:

> What is your definition of an "expert"?
> Please, for now, try to resist responding to the others' answers, simply
> state your own.


My first approximation, off the top of my head: Someone who knows
their given field and can show they are regarded as someone who knows
said field.

The second part is of some importance. Cranks are often
highly-credentialed but their crankery is not respected even if other
things they know are. e.g. William Shockley, the usually-credited
inventor of the transistor, knew all about electronics, but his work
on racial differences in intelligence is considerably less regarded.


- d.