—many of them—and each claims to be a scholar, or is said to be a scholar. Whom, then, should he ask? Should we say that he must seek out the one most likely to be correct, ask him, and then follow his opinion? Or should we say that he may ask whomever he wishes among those he regards as people of knowledge, since a less learned scholar may be granted sound knowledge of a particular issue while one superior and more knowledgeable than him may not? Scholars have differed over this question.

Some hold that an ordinary person must ask whichever scholar in his town he considers most trustworthy in knowledge. For when someone suffers from a bodily illness, he seeks out the person he regards as having the greatest medical expertise to treat it. The same applies here, for knowledge is the medicine of hearts. Just as you select for your illness the person you regard as most capable, so here too you must select the person you regard as most knowledgeable, for there is no difference.

Others hold that this is not obligatory, because the one who is