Originally Posted by HowAboutThis
Originally Posted by PWMDMD
Pat is fighting against one of the biggest problems in America at the moment - the death of expertise. People believe with google they can "inform" themselves and make critical decisions on topics that in decades past we left up to the real experts. You know, people with PhDs who live and breathe a particular subject. Then the interweb came along and "Jim" with his C- average in prealgebra and his GED decided "climate change" isn't real because last fall it was 2 degrees F cooler than normal and the numbers do not make sense to him. Now it has extended to motor oil viscosities. Next people will be showing their heart surgeon a Youtube video instructing them how they'd like their surgery done.
Yes, I know the experts aren't always right but they are right a lot more than they are wrong and it still makes sense to follow the expert's opinions over you know, Jim the greeter at Walmart. The justifications for not following experts (the manufacturer engineers) are ludicrous - "This is just a guess, but engineers have little say in what oil is used"??? Really...do you want to rethink that statement? It is a WILD and counterintuitive guess about something you can not possibly have any knowledge about so why pose the statement? That's about as valid as, "I believe engineers make design decisions using a dartboard."
Similar to a doctor telling you a test for illness X is 99% accurate but not understanding that prevalence of the illness can significantly affect what the "99% accuracy" actually means? Or the engineers and computer programmers I know quite well talking about most of their decisions being affected by accountants and marketing departments?
"Truth" is a substantially complex thing.
Yet, medicine still saves a whole lot more people than it kills and the laptop I'm using to write this very post works flawlessly - in spite of the fact that doctors are [censored] and software engineers listen to accountants. Just because the experts are always right doesn't mean you are! It doesn't mean we as a society should throw the baby out with the bathwater. You and your "rationale" for why you should be an authority on everything/anything is exactly the problem - did you ever think that was just a bad doctor and your friends are tools who work for a [censored] company who cares more about the bottom line than the product? Did that ever cross your mind?
Originally Posted by PWMDMD
Pat is fighting against one of the biggest problems in America at the moment - the death of expertise. People believe with google they can "inform" themselves and make critical decisions on topics that in decades past we left up to the real experts. You know, people with PhDs who live and breathe a particular subject. Then the interweb came along and "Jim" with his C- average in prealgebra and his GED decided "climate change" isn't real because last fall it was 2 degrees F cooler than normal and the numbers do not make sense to him. Now it has extended to motor oil viscosities. Next people will be showing their heart surgeon a Youtube video instructing them how they'd like their surgery done.
Yes, I know the experts aren't always right but they are right a lot more than they are wrong and it still makes sense to follow the expert's opinions over you know, Jim the greeter at Walmart. The justifications for not following experts (the manufacturer engineers) are ludicrous - "This is just a guess, but engineers have little say in what oil is used"??? Really...do you want to rethink that statement? It is a WILD and counterintuitive guess about something you can not possibly have any knowledge about so why pose the statement? That's about as valid as, "I believe engineers make design decisions using a dartboard."
Similar to a doctor telling you a test for illness X is 99% accurate but not understanding that prevalence of the illness can significantly affect what the "99% accuracy" actually means? Or the engineers and computer programmers I know quite well talking about most of their decisions being affected by accountants and marketing departments?
"Truth" is a substantially complex thing.
Yet, medicine still saves a whole lot more people than it kills and the laptop I'm using to write this very post works flawlessly - in spite of the fact that doctors are [censored] and software engineers listen to accountants. Just because the experts are always right doesn't mean you are! It doesn't mean we as a society should throw the baby out with the bathwater. You and your "rationale" for why you should be an authority on everything/anything is exactly the problem - did you ever think that was just a bad doctor and your friends are tools who work for a [censored] company who cares more about the bottom line than the product? Did that ever cross your mind?
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