There's a certain kind of innocence to this. "Elites" are one half of many popular dichotomies, and the term takes a lot of meaning from whatever it's being com

There's a certain kind of innocence to this. "Elites" are one half of many popular dichotomies, and the term takes a lot of meaning from whatever it's being compared to. Elite is a morally evocative term, and that tends to surface a users values, and what we find outrageous. Robin associates elite with celebrity, prestige and credit... expertise with a lack of it. Unfairness and dishonesty in how status and prestige are allocated. Personally, I separate large parts of the celebrity aspects from this whole tangle. Celebrity scientists, engineers and such are a great thing. Why should the celebrity sphere only contain socialites, athletes, actors, musicians, billionaires. Something like the nobel prize ceremonially designates someone a celebrity scientist. That's not a terrible thing. Like any other idol, they represent something. Reality is always more complex, but idols embody simple stereotypes that they represent.Watch a small nation bring home a gold in women's judo. Two years later judo is often a thriving sport with many high achievers. Idols are values, and values impacts like this. Doing the same for medicine or physics works the same way. I get that people feel celebrity worship is vapid idolatry, but every society worships stuff... often designated hero types. Subcultures too. Led Zeppelin, Elon Musk, Mother Theressa, etc. Why not worship a scientist, if we're always worshipping somebody anyway?