Beyond Gut Instinct: A Naturalistic Decision Making FAQ on Expertise
Frequently Asked Questions on Expertise
Drawing from my research in Naturalistic Decision Making across fields like medicine and military tactics, I explore the true nature of expertise. It is not merely memorization or gut instinct, but a form of tacit knowledge allowing experts to recognize complex patterns and adapt to novel situations instantly. This FAQ clarifies how deep familiarity creates an 'uncommon common sense' that drives effective action when explicit rules fail.
Expertise is not about knowing lots of explicit facts, but instead defined by what we call tacit knowledge; that is knowledge that is hard to articulate because it is so implicit to how we move about in the world.