We hear much these days about "the death of expertise," a growing tendency to ignore and cast suspicion upon the counsel of physicians, scientists, economists - trained experts of every sort. Why is this? Is it because we're too dumb to listen to people who know better? Well, maybe! But that's only a partial answer, because the experts may bear their share of the responsibility, too. The halakhah instructs us to heed the counsel of the expert (the baki, the mumcheh) in their area of expertise, but it knows that despite their expertise – or sometimes even because of it - experts run into problems. Maybe the halakhic discussion can shed light on the problems faced by today’s experts.

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