Critical assessment belongs to everyone, not a certified expert class.

Evidence

But most knowledge about human society is, I think, finally accessible to common sense — that is, the sense that grows out of the common human experience — and is, indeed must be, subject to some sort of critical assessment. These two things, common sense and critical assessment, are in the final analysis social and generally intellectual attributes available to and cultivatable by everyone, not the privilege of a special class nor the possession of a handful of certified “experts.” Yet special training is necessary if one is to learn Arabic or Chinese, or if one is to understand the meaning of economic, historical, and demographic trends. — Edward W. Said, Covering Islam, 360

Categorization

• APHORISMS: Genuine life advice: trust common sense and critical assessment over credentialed expert authority.