I think this is a more global problem of “people now think they’re experts on everything, and shout about it loudly”
Musk is the classic high profile example, but science denialism among the general populace is the low profile one.
And I hear, “well, they always have.”
I dunno… I don’t think the average person in 1926 assumed they were an expert on medicine or physics or finance or whatever. If a doctor, or physicist, or banker told them something, they’d generally nod their head.
Now? “What do they know!?” The notion is offensive, apparently. Clearly their ten minutes of research on Google or ChatGPT refutes 30 years dedicated to centuries-old scientific bodies.
Or maybe they just misjudged some YouTube or Facebook post as an expert, I guess.
Even if I’m wrong there, and people were always like this, the other half is that they weren’t able to shout it into an algorithm that absolutely loves the controversy it generates, and serve it to billions of people automatically.
Vaccine denialism was a problem during the Spanish Flu epidemic in 1918.
In the eighties, I remember that Christian Scientists would refuse medical treatment for their dying children, choosing to pray instead. The kids usually died.
There was always a subset of the population who refused to acknowledge science or expertise.
These days, we’ve gotten rid of the government departments of experts that are supposed to advise our legislators regarding the consequences of the bills they want to pass. Instead they just listen to the lobbyists of the corporations who finance their campaigns.
Or in the case of Trump, his own imagination, since he hallucinates more than Google Gemini. A recent example is his belief that the CHIPS act requires the hiring of trans folk to run microchip-making factories. (It doesn’t. Also the rumor that he confused transgender with transistor is probably false.)
I think this is a more global problem of “people now think they’re experts on everything, and shout about it loudly”
Musk is the classic high profile example, but science denialism among the general populace is the low profile one.
And I hear, “well, they always have.”
I dunno… I don’t think the average person in 1926 assumed they were an expert on medicine or physics or finance or whatever. If a doctor, or physicist, or banker told them something, they’d generally nod their head.
Now? “What do they know!?” The notion is offensive, apparently. Clearly their ten minutes of research on Google or ChatGPT refutes 30 years dedicated to centuries-old scientific bodies.
Or maybe they just misjudged some YouTube or Facebook post as an expert, I guess.
Even if I’m wrong there, and people were always like this, the other half is that they weren’t able to shout it into an algorithm that absolutely loves the controversy it generates, and serve it to billions of people automatically.
NO ONE would see this post of Musk, otherwise.
Vaccine denialism was a problem during the Spanish Flu epidemic in 1918.
In the eighties, I remember that Christian Scientists would refuse medical treatment for their dying children, choosing to pray instead. The kids usually died.
There was always a subset of the population who refused to acknowledge science or expertise.
These days, we’ve gotten rid of the government departments of experts that are supposed to advise our legislators regarding the consequences of the bills they want to pass. Instead they just listen to the lobbyists of the corporations who finance their campaigns.
Or in the case of Trump, his own imagination, since he hallucinates more than Google Gemini. A recent example is his belief that the CHIPS act requires the hiring of trans folk to run microchip-making factories. (It doesn’t. Also the rumor that he confused transgender with transistor is probably false.)