It takes an expert to know one
Eric Feigl-Ding is not a medical doctor. This came as a surprise to me, though it may not be particularly relevant. The title of “doctor” in English-language media is ambiguous: it can refer to physicians, to Ph.D. graduates, to dentists, even to chiropractors. Feigl-Ding has a dual doctorate in nutrition and epidemiology from Harvard University, and while epidemiology can be the study of infectious diseases and how they spread through the population, his own pre-pandemic corner of epidemiology had more to do with food than viruses. He did enrol in medical school but left before completing his degree.
Many critics of Feigl-Ding’s accuse him of epistemic trespassing. As “epistemic” relates to how we know the things we know, the accusation translates to “stay in your lane.” It’s when an expert leverages their credentials in one field to dip a toe into another field. The COVID-19 pandemic has certainly elevated a number of COVID minimizers to celebrity status in large part because they pass the credential sniff test. They are doctors therefore, people think, they must know what they are taking about, even though a closer look reveals them to be epistemically trespassing.
