Dr Peter Moore: Expert knowledge often not from the experts

In Gilbert and Sullivan’s Iolanthe there is one line about the House of Lords that should apply to anyone who tries to write a column. “Noble Statesmen do not itch to interfere in matters which they do not understand”. I am retired and very careful not to pontificate about the latest medical treatment which, like the House of Lords, I do not understand. But my ignorance is far wider than the latest medical treatment.
It is a strange anomaly that the more we understand and study a subject the less of an 'expert' we feel. This has been given a name, the Dunning Kruger Effect. People with little understanding of a subject feel they are 'experts' while people who are 'experts' often feel inadequate.
I demonstrated this effect in my early days as a GP. My training practice also covered the police work. As well as traditional general practice I was called to the police station to check on various people who had been arrested as well as being called out to suspicious deaths and sexual offences. As I had virtually no training in this area I reckoned I was pretty good. When I moved to Torquay I continued the work and gave my 'expert' opinion on forensic medicine to anyone who would listen. After a few years I decided to attend a proper course and I booked into a six modular course at Manchester University. After the first module I came home feeling that I should not be doing this work. There were hundreds of aspects to the work which had never occurred to me. I had no idea about the law surrounding custody or even consent. When the police asked me to check on someone they had not given their consent to be seen. Suddenly I went from being an 'expert' to being hopelessly ignorant.
This effect is seen whenever I look online or hear vox pop interviews. People with no knowledge of a subject can discuss it with passion. Call an 'expert' who has spent their whole life studying the same area and they will probably give a long an inconclusive answer. “On the one hand, on the other it might be the case or not”.
It also explains the problem faced by many of our politicians. In a highly complicated situation there may not be a simple answer. A slogan saying that “the problem is a little too complex to give a glib answer and we might or might not try this idea depending on the evidence” is not a memorable snappy three-word slogan.
It must be frustrating for any real expert who has spent a lifetime studying a complicated area to hear simple solutions from people on the streets when the expert knows that these are impossible. They could try to explain why but is probably thinking 'where do I start?'
Even a football manager must find it difficult when supporters argue for a different tactic or criticise the team selection.
The manager and training staff have worked in football for years and know every aspect of the game. They will have studied the opposition and have also seen their players in training and know their personalities, strengths and weaknesses.
Shouts of 'he’s rubbish' from the terraces does not show a deep nuanced understanding of all the issues.
In medicine it can be very frustrating if someone believes they are an expert because they read about it on the Internet. Some treatments which may have a marginal effect in a fairly narrow group of patients can be hailed as a new breakthrough online. Understandably someone will latch onto this 'cure' when the doctor knows that the Internet version of the evidence was simplified. The same applies when the internet suggests that a particular drug is dangerous. Life is more complex.

Whenever I start pontificating on a subject about which I have no knowledge or experience I must remember Gilbert’s words about the House of Lords and not “itch to interfere in matters which I do not understand”.