Criticism without authority

I was recently, and quite correctly, told to shut up. The topic was whether a book was good or not. I as a completely untrained, but experienced reader had a preference that I was expressing. But when I started to weigh in on the structure, plot, and character development, my preferences became worthless. At first I was offended by this, but a little be later the conversation turned to computers. Suddenly the tables were turned. This is something I have authority to discuss.

All to often I find that folks mistake authority for opinion when it comes to expressing themselves. Opinion is fine when the evaluation is qualitative or subjective, where expressing a preference is the idea. It is when we turn to quantitative evaluations, where fact, evidence, precedence and accepted best practice are important that we need to look to authorities for guidance.

Authorities are made. These folks have established the right to stand up and say "this is the way it is". We can question and disagree, but an authority has a track record that establishes them as a voice of expertise. This right is not always granted in the expected ways. Sometimes a degree will grant authority to a person, sometimes a life of service, sometimes it is simply a history of "being right".

In my discussion about the value of a book, I was leveling my opinion against another person's authority derived from being 1) an author 2) a professor 3) an editor. My technical criticism of the book was about as legitimate as his opinion about the value of 32 bit operating systems in an modern computing environment. We both knew the same words, but only one of us had earned the right to use them critically.

Fast forward a few hours and I need to talk to the daughter about a little problem we have brewing. Nothing big, but an opportunity to make a big mistake. If we get into a battle of opinions neither of us will win. If we can agree on who has established a right to be the authority on the subject, an expert in the field, then we can actually make progress to a solution.

It is not the authority of strength, but the authority of experience that has the right to say "shut up and listen".