3 ms·

Some of it I think is an overemphasis on credentials. I think this is a problem in many domains of society, but credentials are vastly inflated in importance. T

Some of it I think is an overemphasis on credentials. I think this is a problem in many domains of society, but credentials are vastly inflated in importance. The result of this is that uncertainty is underacknowledged and valid uncredentialed perspectives are under weighted. Information access might be related in that credentials probably mean less in reality if the information is more widely distributed. Scribes were more critical in ancient societies where literacy wasn't common.

nobody9999 5y ago
>Some of it I think is an overemphasis on credentials. I think this is a problem in many domains of society, but credentials are vastly inflated in importance. The result of this is that uncertainty is underacknowledged and valid uncredentialed perspectives are under weighted. Absolutely. My plumber watched a bunch of youtube videos about coronary bypass surgery. And since I know him, I trust him to do my quadruple bypass surgery[0] much more than someone with useless credentials like a an MD or board certification[1]. Those "doctors" think that just because they went to school and trained for a decade, that they somehow know more than folks who haven't. That's just elitist claptrap. Anyone who wants to watch some youtube videos and read some WebMD articles about brain surgery should be allowed to perform such procedures without all this regulation about "training" and "licensure." /s [0] https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/coronary-bypass-surgery/about/pac-20384589 https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/coronary-bypass-... [1] https://www.abms.org/board-certification/ https://www.abms.org/board-certification/ [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poe%27s_law https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poe%27s_law N.B.: It pains me that I had to add a '/s' at the end of my comment, but given the current environment, it's important to remember that Poe's Law[2] applies, even about something like this. More's the pity.
- derbOac 5y ago
  It almost goes without saying, but in some cases, there's a fine line between sarcasm and strawmen.
  - nobody9999 5y ago
    >It almost goes without saying, but in some cases, there's a fine line between sarcasm and strawmen. Are you claiming that I set up and knocked down a strawman? Please do elucidate. This should be interesting. Sure. I don't actually know a plumber who wants to perform coronary bypass surgery on me. In fact, I don't require such surgery, at least not at the moment. My comment was more "reductio ad absurdum"[0] to make the point rather than a strawman. And that point being that "expertise is not an illusion" in many cases. While it's true that there are folks who claim to know some things better than other folks, there are many areas (like medicine and a variety of other fields) where credentialed expertise is not only valid, but essential. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reductio_ad_absurdum https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reductio_ad_absurdum

nobody9999 5y ago

>Some of it I think is an overemphasis on credentials. I think this is a problem in many domains of society, but credentials are vastly inflated in importance. The result of this is that uncertainty is underacknowledged and valid uncredentialed perspectives are under weighted. Absolutely. My plumber watched a bunch of youtube videos about coronary bypass surgery. And since I know him, I trust him to do my quadruple bypass surgery[0] much more than someone with useless credentials like a an MD or board certification[1]. Those "doctors" think that just because they went to school and trained for a decade, that they somehow know more than folks who haven't. That's just elitist claptrap. Anyone who wants to watch some youtube videos and read some WebMD articles about brain surgery should be allowed to perform such procedures without all this regulation about "training" and "licensure." /s [0] https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/coronary-bypass-surgery/about/pac-20384589 https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/coronary-bypass-... [1] https://www.abms.org/board-certification/ https://www.abms.org/board-certification/ [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poe%27s_law https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poe%27s_law N.B.: It pains me that I had to add a '/s' at the end of my comment, but given the current environment, it's important to remember that Poe's Law[2] applies, even about something like this. More's the pity.

derbOac 5y ago
It almost goes without saying, but in some cases, there's a fine line between sarcasm and strawmen.
- nobody9999 5y ago
  >It almost goes without saying, but in some cases, there's a fine line between sarcasm and strawmen. Are you claiming that I set up and knocked down a strawman? Please do elucidate. This should be interesting. Sure. I don't actually know a plumber who wants to perform coronary bypass surgery on me. In fact, I don't require such surgery, at least not at the moment. My comment was more "reductio ad absurdum"[0] to make the point rather than a strawman. And that point being that "expertise is not an illusion" in many cases. While it's true that there are folks who claim to know some things better than other folks, there are many areas (like medicine and a variety of other fields) where credentialed expertise is not only valid, but essential. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reductio_ad_absurdum https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reductio_ad_absurdum