Igon Value problem

The Igon Value Problem is a way of summarizing the lack of depth often encountered in modern journalism that focuses on esoteric subjects in which the journalist (or any writer in general) is not an expert themselves. The problem states: “[W]hen a writer’s education on a topic consists in interviewing an expert, he is apt to offer generalizations that are banal, obtuse or flat wrong." This was coined by Steven Pinker in a review of Malcolm Gladwell's book What the Dog Saw.