When the expert we once trusted turns out to be a huckster, fraud, or worse, we can either admit that we were tricked or try to defend the indefensible.

Your Glorified Ignorance Wasn’t Cool Then, And Your Scientific Illiteracy Isn’t Cool Now

This one is wonderfully full of quotable paragraphs

“At least, that’s how you behave if you’re genuinely interested in learning the actual answer. You’ll either undertake the research yourself to reach expert-level competence, where you’ll learn how to perform critical tests and experiments that determine the answer, or you can learn to discern whose expertise is worth listening to and why, and then to take that expert advice. That’s how you gain meaningful knowledge …
But many of us don’t choose that route for a number of reasons.

First off, it requires making a series of admissions to ourselves that are very difficult to accept. These include:

admitting that we don’t know everything,
admitting that we might be wrong about something that we’ve thought or even publicly espoused,
admitting that we might have been swindled or conned by a charlatan,
requiring us to do additional research, work, and mental labor,
and to admit to ourselves that our heroes — the people we admire most — are often flawed or incorrect.

This is not an easy situation to be in, regardless of your education or background. It’s human nature to want to save face and appear like we knew the right answer all along. But, if we’re being honest with ourselves, that isn’t a real solution.”

Author: Arthur Ruger

Married and in a wonderful relationship. Retired Social Worker, Veteran, writer, author, blogger, musician,. Lives in Coeur D' Alene, Idaho View all posts by Arthur Ruger