I’ve generally avoided politics on our website, but on Friday, December 15, the Washington Post reported one of the most horrifying & terrifying items to yet emerge from the Trump Administration, and I can no longer be silent. I believe that the very foundation of our nation is under deliberate attack, and every opportunity must be taken to save it. […]
If you've been reading this blog over the last few years, you'll certainly have noticed a pattern: a reliance on established, peer-reviewed science and critical thinking. Whether the topic is GMO vs. organic vs. conventional food, cavity prevention, cancer, juicing, or flossing, I always rely on expertise, accumulated and tested knowledge, and consensus over anecdotes, one-off studies, or fringe "experts" outside the scientific consensus. On the other hand, if you read a lot of news and social media, you know that many people actively deny, ignore, or attempt to refute experts as "elites" or part of one or more vast conspiracies covering up things like "natural cures for cancer," etc. This trend seems to have significantly increased in recent months and years, too. But why? Are experts no longer needed? Do they matter any more, or is Google all that anyone needs? Can, and should, we still trust them? Who is a real expert, and how do we know which are frauds? Not easy questions, but they're important ones. Yes, Experts are Still Important Tom Nichols, the author of "The Death of Expertise: the Campaign against Established Knowledge and Why it Matters," is a Professor of National Security Affairs at the US Naval War College. I first became aware of him when I read his article in The Federalist in Jan. 2014 by the same title, and I rediscovered him recently on Twitter in some political discussions. While we have rather differing political views (he's conservative and I'm liberal), I respect him and even agree with him on a number of issues. And on the issue of "do experts and expertise matter," I am 100% in agreement with him: YES, THEY MATTER. But why do so many [...]
