Reminiscences of a Classical Model Expert Elicitation Facilitator

In this chapter, I trace my introduction to the Classical Model and to the thoughts and philosophy of Roger Cooke, and then go on to recount some experiences of acting as a facilitator in many real world and sometimes crucial expert elicitations. The essence of my own history is that it took me a very long time to start to understand, and appreciate, the elegance of Roger’s Classical Model (Cooke 1991), its mathematical probity and how it is best deployed in application. I am sure I still haven’t fully mastered the probability calculus entirely, and don’t doubt others might quarrel with my preferred way of conducting elicitations that rely on the Classical Model, using a plenary workshop approach. This said, I can’t find, devise or even imagine, a better alternative to the Classical Model. And, on top of this extraordinary intellectual achievement, Roger Cooke has been a beneficent collaborator nonpareil, always willing to help me, and anyone else, avoid self-inflicted elicitation and probabilistic infelicities.