Who Can You Trust? (Part 6)

I was hoping to end this fraud discussion last year but being such a pervasive cancer, it sticks around like a musty odor. I left off with the role of intersubjectivity in combating the con artists.

While a powerful tool, intersubjectivity has more difficulty validating experts. An expert is a “person who has a comprehensive and authoritative knowledge of or skill in a particular area.” Again, intersubjectivity is what makes someone’s knowledge “authoritative.” That judgment must come from someone else who shares or can appreciate the supposed expert’s level of understanding. Confirming popular subject matter may not be easy but it is at least doable because there are many teachers available in-person or online.

When it comes to an esoteric domain, however, intersubjectivity may fail altogether. Even more than motivational speaking, I would love to get up in front of a group of interested listeners and teach option trading! I am qualified because I have spent thousands of hours studying, backtesting, and doing it with real money. Despite my good intentions, though, few in a position to give me the gig I seek (e.g. school principals, department heads) can verify that I know what I am talking about or that my intentions are pure.

Think for a moment about what it would take to authorize a complete stranger to teach your students. Do you know/trust a successful trader able to confirm my expertise? You would certainly be hard-pressed to find verifiable approaches to consistent long-term profitability online. This is the hard work people must do on their own and once they get results, they typically look to sell or profit rather than sharing freely where they may be viewed by others (e.g. blogs, internet forums, free websites). At the end of the day, maybe I will get the gig if and only if I prove to be a good salesman.

These are recurring themes that I have discussed before.

My takeaway is “roadblocks everywhere!” This is a launch pad to a different discussion about how the financial industry protects a core approach to generating revenue: a story for another time, perhaps.

Happy New Year!