How important are the opinions of experts in the search for knowledge Essay

How important are the opinions of experts in the search for knowledge - Essay Example Most of the time, such claims can invite a long list of counterclaims. In search for the truth, many people often consider the personal opinion of the experts as a valid idea which forms and contribute to our development of knowledge. The problem with heavily relying on the personal opinion of other people is that opinion itself is highly dependent on each person’s upbringing, reasoning, and emotions which could adversely affect the validity of other people’s personal opinion. Even though the personal opinions coming from the experts could significantly affect our search for knowledge one way or the other, this report will discuss the reasons why we should not fully rely on the personal opinions of the experts when searching for new and valid idea which forms our knowledge. As part of going through the main discussion, this report will discuss TOK in relation to the study of human sciences, history, and ethics. TOK in Relation to the Study of Human Sciences, History, an d Ethics Human Science Sociology is basically the study on how people within the society would function as a whole. Aiming to improve the social relationship, confidence level, personal productivity, and overall experiences in the life of young individuals, the Landmark Education is offering the opportunity for young individuals to participate in Landmark Forum (Landmark Education 2011). As a non-expert in the field of psychology, it is not easy to comprehend how the Landmark Education could encourage the young individuals to improve their quality of living by merely joining the Landmark Forum. Therefore, a lot of people often misunderstood that Landmark is just a form of cult which influences a large group of people (Bralliar 1996; Lowell 1996). To enable the non-experts to gain better understanding with regards to this matter, several psychologists, psychotherapists, and psychiatrists were invited to share their personal opinions on how the Landmark Forum could serve as a communic ation link between the young individuals and the experts (Landmark Education 2011). According to Edward H. Lowell (1996) who is a medical doctor specializing in psychiatry, the Landmark Forum and other related programs offered by Landmark Education provides the young individuals and the medical professionals the opportunity to learn from one another on how one can gain independence and higher self-confidence as a result of each individual’s accomplishments in life (Bralliar 1996; Lowell 1996). Because of Lowell’s and Bralliar’s personal experiences with the Landmark Forum, these two experts were able to provide solid evidences why people should not classify Landmark as a form of cult. Considering the professional and education background of Bralliar and Lowell in psychiatry, people who reads his personal statement concerning how Landmark Forum works is enough evidence to convince the people that Landmark is not a cult. History The study of history focuses on ana lyzing and interpreting what happened in the past. Since each individual has their own way of expressing how they understand what took place in the past, there is a risk for historical experts to encounter conflicts with regards to their opinions based on what they understood about the past events. Medical history is one subject that commonly encounters discrepancy between scientific-based evidences and personal opinion of the medical experts. The problem most of the