Authority

Authority is a tricky subject. Is the person who has the most applied experience with a subject the expert because they are familiar with it on a practical level? Or is the person who has the most intellectual knowledge of a subject more reliable because they can discuss it academically?
Both approaches to authority have their merits and their weaknesses. Someone who has spent their entire professional life as a driller would be better informed on things like how to run the machine, or idiosyncrasies of the effects weather on soil textures and drill bit interaction that an academic source would simply not be familiar enough with the equipment to ask.
However, the “expert” approach gives accountability and therefore credibility to information. If one wanted to research the life story of Karl Marx, one wants to be sure that the source of their information is reliable. If anyone can author resources, it is far to easy to change information to suit one’s bias.
I think that it is important to use both expert and laymen information to gather information about the entirety of our human knowledge. But I like to be choosey about who I ask about what. Depending on the context of what information I am looking for, that is how I decide what source would give me the best – the most useful information for my circumstances.
For example, when I write a paper on the cinematic style choices in Julie Taymor’s production of Titus, it is important that I refer to experts on cinematic theory as well as Shakespearean interpretation. If I were to ask the video store clerk what he thought about the significance of the toy solders in the opening scene, the information I receive would not be usable for a critical, academic essay. The clerk’s response may be interesting and even theoretically sound. However, he is not an established authority on either subject, and therefore not a reliable source for accurate information.
But if I were to write an essay on the general public’s reaction to Taymor’s production, the clerk would be an excellent source. He would be able to give information because he is now the actual primary source of information. He is an expert on his own experience.
When evaluating the usefulness of a source, even academic ones, it is always important to keep in mind how relevant, reliable, and connected that source is to their subject. Each one of these three areas can change how the source evaluates their subject. A source can fall anywhere within the spectrums of spectrum of relevance, reliability, and connection. Depending on where they land, it changes how I, as the consumer, should evaluate the information I am given.