This piece was tough to write, in part because it addresses an issue in psychiatry for one of its core examples—and I take very seriously not wanting to disrupt other people’s paths to wellness.
Still, many scientific fields have met with serious setbacks as of late, which can be difficult to translate to critical policy changes. That disconnect can create a crisis of expertise--at least, if we forget what “knowledge” really is, and how to practise it better every day.
https://open.substack.com/pub/mlclark/p/the-end-of-expertise-the-beginning
@MLClark "Be wary of anyone who treats authority as easily transferable from one topic to another." That immediately resonated with me in regards to the "experts" quoted by anti-vaxxers and anti global warmists. Few, if any, have no training in the subjects - their specialties lay in entirely unrelated fields. It's a common tactic that relies on someone having a doctorate in one area commenting on another unrelated area but are supposed to be authoritative because of that Dr. moniker.
@MLClark indeed we are
@NorthernInvader
And it works, because far too many people invoke authority without interrogating *what* makes that person or organization authoritative.
Critical thinking skills are difficult to acquire later in life - and yet, even plenty of people who learned them once can still forget them if they're not kept in routine use.
We're a silly, fragile bunch, no?