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This is sort of like when doctors prescribe ibuprofen without explaining the research backing their decision. Are these decisions based on research or purely id

This is sort of like when doctors prescribe ibuprofen without explaining the research backing their decision. Are these decisions based on research or purely ideology? I'm starting to see my faith in these institutions erode at an alarming rate. The other day I rewatched an old episode of Bullshit, and it turns out smoking bans in the early 2000's were predicated on bad science. There was no significant evidence that second hand smoke causes cancer. Throw in COVID, political correctness, Omicron and the reproducibility crisis hitting cancer research and I'm suddenly feeling really fucking alone on the plane of authority.

adolph 5y ago
> suddenly feeling really fucking alone on the plane of authority. Maybe you are in fact alone on a plane you call authority.
- nefitty 5y ago
  To clarify, I meant that as a figure of speech. As in, there's different contexts of reality that individuals can look to, for example family, work, etc. On my personal view of the context of authority figures, it seems to be more and more vacant as time goes on. I did not mean I'm physically in an airplane. Sorry for the mix up.
  - adolph 5y ago
    In terms of ways of understanding described in David Deutsch’s “The Beginning of Infinity” you are on a path that may lead to understanding the world more clearly. Relativism The misconception that statements cannot be objectively true or false, but can be judged only relative to some cultural or other arbitrary standard. Instrumentalism The misconception that science cannot describe reality, only predict outcomes of observations. Justificationism The misconception that knowledge can be genuine or reliable only if it is justified by some source or criterion. Fallibilism The recognition that there are no authoritative sources of knowledge, nor any reliable means of justifying knowledge as true or probable.

adolph 5y ago

> suddenly feeling really fucking alone on the plane of authority. Maybe you are in fact alone on a plane you call authority.

nefitty 5y ago
To clarify, I meant that as a figure of speech. As in, there's different contexts of reality that individuals can look to, for example family, work, etc. On my personal view of the context of authority figures, it seems to be more and more vacant as time goes on. I did not mean I'm physically in an airplane. Sorry for the mix up.
- adolph 5y ago
  In terms of ways of understanding described in David Deutsch’s “The Beginning of Infinity” you are on a path that may lead to understanding the world more clearly. Relativism The misconception that statements cannot be objectively true or false, but can be judged only relative to some cultural or other arbitrary standard. Instrumentalism The misconception that science cannot describe reality, only predict outcomes of observations. Justificationism The misconception that knowledge can be genuine or reliable only if it is justified by some source or criterion. Fallibilism The recognition that there are no authoritative sources of knowledge, nor any reliable means of justifying knowledge as true or probable.