Musings on the reasons some people seek advice from unqualified persons
We all experience life in different ways and because we are not all-knowing, we sometimes have to rely on other people to support us with advice or guidance when we need it.
Have you ever considered what drives you to seek advice from someone else? Who do you naturally approach? A partner or relative? A friend or colleague? A certified professional? What do you look for in deciding who to turn to? Do you take time to decide who to reach out to or do you typically just go with who you can reach easily?
I think about this often when I hear stories about people’s experiences seeking advice from unqualified sources. Take the following scenarios for example:
- Didi’s baby has been running a temperature for a while. She has barely got a goodnight’s sleep as he has been cranky and crying, and she is tired. She goes to the local “nurse” and explains her baby’s symptoms. The nurse dispenses a variety of unnamed pills and syrups which Didi gives to her baby. She doesn’t even think that she should have gone to a proper healthcare facility
- John built his house 5 years ago and now, parts of the structure are sinking into the ground. The house was built using a contractor or developer as they are often called and he remembers how his best friend tried unsuccessfully to get him to engage the services of architects, structural and civil engineers, and related building professionals. He had decided to go with the developer because he was cheaper and had worked on several building sites before. Unfortunately, the developer lacked the required technical knowledge
- Anita’s best friend has just informed her of a new investment scheme: you get a 100% return on your investment within a week of investing. She borrows money from friends and family and makes her first investment. She gets her returns the first week and reinvests everything the following week which is when the scheme went bust. She blamed everyone but herself, even though she never bothered to investigate the organisation’s credibility before investing
- Fati and Toro have been having marital issues for a long while and their communication has already been strained. Fati finally convinces Toro that they need help so they book an appointment with their spiritual leader. He listens to them, offers some advice and words of encouragement, and prays with them. They are unwilling to seek professional help from a counsellor or psychologist because “why should they pay for advice they can get for free?”
All of these real-life scenarios make me wonder why many people find it easier to seek advice from uncertified professionals in the field they need help with. If we can admit that a problem exists, why do we find it hard to seek help from people who have been certified to deal with the problems we are facing?
My first thought is that people would naturally gravitate toward people they know and “trust”, whether they are professionals or not. In this day and age, it is easier to go with “the devil you know” especially when there is a lot at stake. But what happens when that “devil you know” could potentially threaten what you have at stake? Do we trust people simply because of the relationship we have with them even if we know they are unqualified to help us?
Could one’s level of education and exposure also be a reason for seeking unqualified advice? Many illiterate and semi-literate people are more likely to seek help from people they know whether they have the professional expertise to solve their issues or not. They trust the personality without question and very often, this trust is based on the fact that many other people also trust them and can vouch for them. But this isn’t limited to uneducated people as even some educated people are guilty of trusting quacks. I know some people would quickly mention their financial ability as a reason for this.
Typically, finance is a big deal and many people patronise non-professionals because they are either cheaper or assumed to be cheaper. Unfortunately, the true cost of this patronage is often not financial as one could end up paying much more than they should have or even paying with their life. Take the mother who visits the roadside drugstore. The so-called nurse may be dispensing fake drugs which may ultimately hurt her baby’s vital organs or even cause death. If this happens, the baby is committed to God’s hands, after all, He gives and He takes.
This brings me to when we go spiritual. Religious leaders have taken a pride of place across many homes and establishments. Their word is usually law and once they make pronouncements, they are believed hook, line, and sinker. Many people have issues and the first person they think to run to is often their religious leader. Whether it is for hope or succour, many people need to understand that seeking spiritual help alone is not advisable especially when the matter at hand is not solely a spiritual matter. People who have spent time getting professionally certified have gone through a formal period of training to help them identify and address issues in a structured manner and this should never be discounted.
People will continue to seek unqualified help as long as all of these factors remain. Usually, after seeking help from quacks, people would end up running to the same professionals they disregarded when they have been disappointed. Quacks must be identified and legally dealt with.
I also believe that those who dispense advice without qualification are morally bound to offer full disclosure to the people who seek out their advice. They have a responsibility over the people who trust them enough to confide in them and they ought to be able to exercise that responsibility with integrity. We may not be able to stop people from running to trusted sources for advice even if those people are unqualified but such trusted people need to offer full disclosure and further direct those who seek out their help, to professionals to manage.
We all need to recognise the role that professionals play in society and give them their due regard, especially for our survival and livelihood. The temptation to patronise people with no professional experience and track record is real but the results very often negate the assumed benefits. This is the way I see things today.