[extropy-chat] Doubt and About

[Robin Hanson]

On 12/9/2003, Harvey Newstrom wrote:

>People ... act like they are experts and they have no real concept
>of how science or the underlying technology really work.  ...
>there are more faux experts than real experts in the public
>spotlight today. ... The world of science is being diluted with
>pseudoscience, and it is very difficult for the laypeople to tell
>the difference. ...

I responded:
>I agree this is a huge problem, but you say "diluted" as if you think the
>situation was ever any different.  It seems to me that this is the way it
>has always been.

On 12/9/2003 Harvey Newstrom responded:
>I disagree.  Things are different than they used to be.

Yes of course things are different than they used to be in many specific
ways.  The question is whether there is an overall trend.

>University studies
>are supported by specific corporations now.  Discoveries are proprietary and
>patented instead of peer-reviewed.  More money is spent on lawyers to
>prevent flaws from being exposed rather than confirmation studies being
>performed.

These are not about fake versus real experts.

>Corporate fraud has moved into the realms of computer science
>and biology more than ever before.

There didn't used to be any computer science, so of course there wasn't fraud
there.

>Areas of research that used to be purely
>scientific are now overrun with corporate lawyers, politicians, ethics
>advisors, and a whole host of non-technical people trying to control
>technology that they don't understand.

And areas that used to be overrun are now left more alone.  Which areas are of
wider interest changes over time.

>Doctors used to make medical
>decisions, now non-medical professionals in HMOs do.

But this isn't a matter of fake experts.  The HMO people are typically expert
enough for the decisions they make.

And so on.

Really, aren't you familiar with the "back in my day things were better, now
the world is going to hell in a hand basket" stereotype?  Such claims are
usually backed up by a list of specific complaints about the world today.
But what is missing is whether a similar list of complaints could have been
made in the past.  Not the exact same complaints of course, but similarly
negative ones.  Without evidence on this, you don't have relevant evidence.



Robin Hanson  rhanson at gmu.edu  http://hanson.gmu.edu
Assistant Professor of Economics, George Mason University
MSN 1D3, Carow Hall, Fairfax VA 22030-4444
703-993-2326  FAX: 703-993-2323