Reading between the lines

Metaphors are weird. Romeo tells us that Juliet (a human girl) is the sun (an astronomical object 150 million kilometers from Earth). Yet instead of being deeply puzzled, we nod along and understand what Romeo is saying: he means (at least) that she is beautiful and that his world revolves around her. How is this possible? That is, what enables Romeo to encode his intended message in such a way that we are able to decipher it? And more generally, what can the philosophy of language tell us about how metaphorical speech works?

How do you know the Earth is round, that smoking is bad for you, or how to invest for retirement? Chances are, you learned it from someone else. But how do you know who actually knows what they're talking about? In this talk, I will present a taxonomy of fake experts — con men, gurus, and more — and draw one key counterintuitive lesson: success isn't always a good sign of expertise.