3 ms·

I think it's a manifestation of epistemic learned helplessness: https://slatestarcodex.com/2019/06/03/repost-epistemic-learned-helplessness/ https://slatestarco

• enchiridion 6y ago
  That was a good read. It's interesting that there are basically three groups that the author focuses on. 1. Smart people who have never been burned by a bad argument. 2. Smart people who have been fallen for a bad argument. 3. Average people who have been been tricked before. The first two groups as described defer to authority, but the first tends toward extreme ideas while the second relies on institutions as a filter. The third group is the most interesting in my opinion, tending toward ideas that "feel right". The important point here, that the author stops short of making, is that the second and third groups are very similar, just with different filtering criteria. The difference is that, with less education/training, the filtering of the third group is more easily undermined. Which brings me back to my original point. Given that the third group comprises the vast majority of the public, governmental institutions have an exceptional burden to not erode trust. If these institutions fail at that, it opens the door for epistemic learned helplessness.