By Bob Brown
How many times do we or someone else, try to present an opinion and package it as an authoritative statement? This question has challenged some of our finest minds for what criteria is required to become an authority. This blog will only be scratching the surface of this topic, by no means all encompassing.
At what point do individuals/society accept an opinion as an authority? Does the person/entity need to have certified credentials to make the statement? What are the qualifying elements… if they’re getting paid, are they automatically trusted as a true authority? They keep talking about it so they must be an expert? Do we allow ourselves to become influenced if they’re educated, famous, rich, beautiful etc? So many questions and so few answers.
I believe that anyone can become an authority on a topic if they truly desire to put in the effort and diligence to understand. This takes discipline and time to comprehend a topic well enough to be able to support WHY they believe a certain way. This also means that a person should be able to support WHY they support this belief over alternative perspectives.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this topic and please don’t hold back. Hope everyone is staying safe and pursuing their dreams!
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