Experts
The problem with experts, is that there are many of them who are experts in terrible ideas.
Take for example two scientists, who have rival theories and are experts in their respective theories. Both of them cannot be right, which means one of them is an expert in an erroneous idea.
Economists are a perfect example of experts who regularly give us bad advice. To make this more confusing, experts very often disagree with each other, which leaves people thinking why bother listening to any of them in the first place.
Let’s take an expert in flat earth theory. This expert may have studied the topic well and be a world renowned expert in it, but this does not mean that it would be wise to follow their teachings or advice.
Society needs experts and the public should listen to what they have to say. We live in a society now where experts are met with suspicion, which is a big problem, the global warming issue is a good example of this. Many people prefer creating their own reality based on personal preferences over listening to experts.
So how should we decide on what to believe? The astrophysicist Neil deGrease Tyson has a wonderful quote, “The good thing about science is that it’s true whether you believe in it or not.” Which is all well and good but this is slightly misleading. Not all science is created equally, also, people can interpret scientific research/studies/experiments in different ways. How we should interpret scientific findings is not always clear, especially when it is mixed in with political narratives.
Although there are many experts in erroneous ideas, this does not mean we should override experts advise based on our own world views that we may want to keep. Perhaps the best we can do is keep an open mind.
December 2018