Video from The David Pakman Show
--Tom Nichols, Professor at the US Naval War College and Harvard Extension School, joins David to discuss his book "The Death of Expertise"
Do you think you are smarter than an expert (in any field?), someone who has worked hard and study or train for many years, are you smarter?
Then you belong to America's Cult of Ignorance.
Mark Bauerlein, in his book, The Dumbest Generation, reveals how a whole generation of youth is being dumbed down by their aversion to reading anything of substance and their addiction to digital “crap” via social media. from the article: The cult of ignorance in the U.S.: Anti intellectualism and the ‘dumbing down’ of America
Lets get something clear, reading a few articles on the internet does make you smart or an authority on anything.
This is arrogance and pride.
The internet is a crutch and many of us are more than willing to believe whatever we read on the internet with absolutely no fact checking!
That is called a lack of wisdom and discernment.
American people are becoming dumber and more foolish every year and many are proud of it.
Hosea 4:6
6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge;
because you have rejected knowledge,
I reject you from being a priest to me.
And since you have forgotten the law of your God,
I also will forget your children.
As we spiral down in our influence and ability to be a world leader we are lead down a path to ignorance by many of our elected officials.
"On my arrival in the United States I was surprised to find so much distinguished talent among the subjects, and so little among the heads of the Government.” Alexis de Tocqueville, 1835.
The 45th President, Donald Trump, has made no secret of his disdain for learning and specialized knowledge, sneering at a campaign rally in 2016, “You know, I’ve always wanted to say this—I’ve never said this before with all the talking we all do, all of these experts, ‘Oh we need an expert’—the experts are terrible!” from the article - American Idiot: Rethinking Anti-Intellectualism in the Age of Trump
I think it is obvious that our current anti authoritarian attitude has resulted in our nation losing its edge across the board in many fields that we have previously excelled in. The Make America Great Again mantra is just one more nail in the coffin of our nations death by ignorance.
People think that a regular Joe that reads an article or two is smarter than a person who has spent years in study and hard work. People have also deluded them selves into conspiracy theories. We indeed are rotting from within.
"Make no mistake, people are being hurt by a refusal to acknowledge the authority of experts. At one point, Nichols provides an example of a man coping with the death of his elderly mother that is so on the nose it can scarcely be believed:
Pasceri, however, was convinced that one of his mother’s doctors, Michael Davidson—the director of endovascular cardiac surgery at a top Boston hospital and a professor at Harvard Medical School—had ignored warnings about a particular drug given to Pasceri’s mother. In a literal case of the death of expertise, the accountant showed up at the hospital and shot the doctor to death. He then killed himself after leaving behind a flash drive with his ‘research’ about the drug." from the article: An Autopsy on the Death of Expertise
I retired from nursing one year ago. I worked in healthcare for 10 years and during that time we were repeatedly frustrated by Dr. Google and people believing "their research" over a MD's years of experience. This is dangerous, this is foolish yet here we are!
There is no simple solution, not now.
We as a nation and a people have so degenerated that many aspects of our culture is now failing. We forget God and he forgets us! The material reality of our education system is broken and we for the most part are not informed, functional citizens. The undeniable links between economic forces, knowledge production, and social justice are also dysfunctional and have been for years.
What can we do now? First we pray, we confess our sins and repent. We get involved where ever we can in our community to help it and the people in it flourish. We become well informed ourselves and encourage and promote good education and give credit to the experts in our lives that make it better. We must be sober minded and have discernment and stay away from the "Folly" of our age that is rampant in America today.
God remains in control, nothing will thwart his will!