Republicans Reject Experts

Click on the links below for examples of the decades-long anti-expert attitude of the Republican Party:

https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2020/10/what-caused-the-u-s-anti-science-trend/

https://www.cnn.com/2016/08/08/politics/republican-national-security-letter-donald-trump-election-2016/index.html

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-reason-some-republicans-mistrust-science-their-leaders-tell-them-to/

https://newrepublic.com/article/158436/republican-murderous-anti-intellectualism

https://www.amazon.com/Republican-Brain-Science-Science-Reality/dp/1118094514

History, Authority, Expert, And Growing Up

History: the study of past events.

Authority: the power to influence or command thought, opinion, or behavior.

Expert: a person who has a comprehensive and authoritative knowledge of or skill in a particular area.

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Human history began in ignorance, violence, and within small nomadic groups. As time progressed, humans became more organized and settled but ignorance and authoritarian control persisted. Democratic ideas evolved out of Greece but humanity at large was still ignorant of reality and under authoritarian control. Organized religion sprouted from persistent human ignorance of reality in attempts to explain the unexplainable, as well as to reinforce authoritarian control and to provide some comfort. Eventually, only a few hundred years ago, modern science and the Industrial Revolution sprouted. These phenomena exponentially expanded human knowledge, progress, and well-being. Democracy became a reality and knowledge expanded to the point where it caused the founding of institutions dedicated to creating expertise in specialized areas. 

The above growth in freedom, knowledge, and understanding of reality can be viewed as being analogous to a child growing up. However, there is a major immaturity from our ignorant and superstitious past holding humanity back and it is religion. Ironically, the most prominent religion has the following teaching but can't accept it as a reality:

• "When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things." ~ I Corinthians

ISN'T IT MORE THAN TIME FOR HUMANITY TO GROW UP?

 

A Look At Expertise

What is the science-based view of expertise, "skill or knowledge in a particular area"? Click on the link below for an in-depth look at this topic that is misunderstood by anti-science/magical thinkers, as well as many science-based thinkers:

The 4 things it takes to be an expert

No Matter The Topic, Experts Are Ignored In The USA

"A tussle between science and politics is defining the pandemic response of the Trump administration. How did this increasing rejection of expertise get started?"
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Most of what we, as individuals, "know" is not from direct experience but from those around us and from other sources to which we are exposed.

If one is a magical thinker, it is difficult to determine if claims are true because there is no way to justify claims with such an epistemological method. The background of the party making the claim, nor the level of evidence for the claim, are not major considerations whether one should accept the party's opinion.

If one is a science-based thinker, however, one uses the scientific method to evaluate all claims on our objective reality. The method contains internal elements that justify/verify the results through such measures as peer review and replication. The higher the level of expertise in the appropriate areas and the quality of evidence supporting the claims, the more confidence one may have in the findings.

The link below highlights the history and our present crisis of generally rejecting the experts and it's consequences:

Why Don't Americans Trust Experts any more?