The problem lies with us: we've become addicted to experts. We've become addicted to their certainty, their assuredness, their definitiveness, and in the process, we have ceded our responsibility, substituting our intellect and our intelligence for their supposed words of wisdom.
Interpretation
The quote warns against over-reliance on experts, urging individuals to maintain their own intellectual responsibility.
In this quote, Noreena Hertz critiques modern society's dependency on experts, suggesting that people have surrendered their own judgment and critical thinking in favor of the certainty and authority offered by those considered knowledgeable. This addiction to experts can lead to a loss of personal responsibility and intellectual independence, emphasizing the need for individuals to engage with information critically instead of simply deferring to others’ expertise.
In practice
In a debate about the role of science in society, one could quote this to emphasize the importance of independent thinking.
We live increasingly in a world of haves and have-nots, of gated communities next to ghettos, of extreme poverty and unbelievable riches. Some enjoy rights that are completely denied to others. Relative inequalities are exploding, and the world's poorest, despite all the advances of globalisation, may even be getting poorer.
The term 'glass ceiling' was coined in 1984. More than 20 years later, the ceiling has barely cracked. There isn't a single country in the world that has as many female as male politicians. In business, the situation is even worse. Its highest echelon - the board - remains a chauvinist's dream.
Knowledge is not for knowing: knowledge is for cutting.
In the presence of your Satguru, knowledge flourishes; sorrow diminishes; without any reason joy wells up; lack diminishes, abundance dawns and all talents manifest
We give advice, but we cannot give the wisdom to profit by it.
I remember my first visit with my guru. He had shown that he read my mind. So I looked at the grass and I thought, 'My god, he's going to know all the things I don't want people to know.' I was really embarrassed. Then I looked up and he was looking directly at me with unconditional love.
To be a seeker implies that you need the future. If this is what you believe, it becomes true for you: you will need time until you realize that you don't need time to be who you are.
As the Japanese Zen masters say, “Don't seek the truth; just drop your opinions”. Drop your theories; don't seek the truth.
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