Equal Opportunity For Ignorance

by West Virginia Rebel

Posted by Aaron - Free Will on 09/06/08 at 03:35 PM from

"A world in which there is said to be no difference between those who know what they are talking about and those who don’t is not one that anyone who thinks about it wants.”

Except, of course, for people who don’t know what they’re talking about.

That’s one way you can tell.

Posted by on 09/06/08 at 05:53 PM from

Considering the dismal state of public education, by and large, all opinions are getting to be very equal - that is, worthless.

I just love it when people tell me that they are “entitled to their opinion” - I then get to tell them that reality does not alter to fit their opinion.  Also, most “experts” on a subject really aren’t experts.  I toss most environmentalists into this category since I haven’t met one in over 30 years that had the slightest fucking clue as to what they were talking about.

Posted by The Contrarian on 09/06/08 at 06:00 PM from

Expertise has become increasingly difficult to recognize as well. Job licensing, inflated university attendance, public schooling, and a massive public sector has confused what knowledge is and what it is for. Massive numbers of people are entering college and not finishing. Millions more believe that politicians are competent to manage people’s private lives and finances. The licensed experts in our public schools are getting worse results than unlicensed amateurs - parents, homeschoolers, and private programs. Anyone on TV is assumed to be an authority, as pop culture, biased media, and demagogues split society into various identity groups and factions.

Increased partisanship is another consequence, but there is a deeper, more important cause. The death of expertise makes society more anti-social. We refuse to believe in the goodwill and decency of our neighbors, since they are experts like us. It’s what makes statist ideas so attractive; our mutual fear of the people next door. Ask any individual if they feel competent to manage their own lives, their healthcare, their child’s education, their retirement, etc, and they’ll say of course (with a few sad exceptions). It’s the other guy they’re worried about, and not because of charity. It’s the fear that the other guy might take it out on him in one way or another (crime, more extreme policies in government, etc.)

Posted by The Contrarian on 09/06/08 at 06:02 PM from

should say “they are NOT experts like us”

Posted by on 09/06/08 at 06:26 PM from

I wouldn’t say expertise has declined.  While certainly there are some disturbing trends (eg the “everyone is entitled to their opinion” mentality), I think we’re a much more informed, expert society than in years past.  Knowledge is much more easily disseminated, and I still have faith that people can discern between good and bad information.

Posted by on 09/06/08 at 06:45 PM from

I agree with zoomzoom.  I think we are a much more knowledgeable society.  The problem today is the same one as before, what people choose to listen to and study.  For example, I have a 200GB hard drive that is full of documentaries, university lectures, and books ranging from politics, history, science, economics, etc.  My problem is I have so much information I have no way of getting to it all.  In addition I have hundreds of DVDs that I couldn’t fit on my hard drive.  Problem is, I have no one to discuss these things with.  Pretty much everyone I know searches for pop culture bullshit.

Posted by on 09/06/08 at 08:10 PM from

The dumbing down of education hasn’t helped. The Internet has also given the means for anyone to voice their own ignorant opinions. Politically correct attitudes towards knowledge-the idea that everyone’s opinion has value and should be considered-may be seen as egalitarian, but it obscures and ignores real facts, which, as in the case of climate change, tend to go against accepted orthodoxy. This willingness to give equal voice to all is what causes ignorance to spread. The only ones who benefit are those who exploit that ignorance.

The irony is fucking killing me.

Posted by HARLEY on 09/06/08 at 10:41 PM from

Jabba any tmie you want to discuss that stuff give me a yell… im game.