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> I thought some of it was pretty interesting That's why. Laypeople lack almost all the tools necessarily to evaluate research and slick presentation, even whe

> I thought some of it was pretty interesting That's why. Laypeople lack almost all the tools necessarily to evaluate research and slick presentation, even when couched with "I'm not an expert - make up your own mind" can be quite effective and completely misleading people. I think there is a big problem with people not not having any understanding of how much work it actually takes to become an expert. The narrative of "outsider dabbles in some field and makes a big breakthrough" feels reasonable. How hard could it really be to break into one of these fields? This sets them up to be misled.

colordrops 4y ago
You say this as if most TV isn't gross misrepresentations of reality. At least Hancock provides a disclaimer.
slackfan 4y ago
I really do hope you are ready to give up the right to theorize on any subject if you are not an expert. That includes: whether a job is bullshit or not, whether the calories you ate are good for you or not, and whether C++ is the right tool for the job or not. Sorry citizen, you are simply not a credential expert in these fields, enjoy your fine and labor camp.
- UncleMeat 4y ago
  My strategy in all fields where I am not an expert is to go talk to some experts and ask them to synthesize the expert consensus for me. For academic fields this is usually university faculty. For something like software design this would be a mentor with decades and decades of experience. Yeah, I think this is the right way to do it. "I'm just explaining my weird theory" is not a good approach to fields that you know little about.
  - slackfan 4y ago
    One man's "experts" are another's "spreaders of dangerous disinformation".
    - UncleMeat 4y ago
      That's true, people are often wrong about evaluating expertise. This is why I seek out people at respected institutions who have a track record of respect from peers. No system is perfect, but I'm way more likely to hold correct opinions using this approach than most other approaches.

colordrops 4y ago

You say this as if most TV isn't gross misrepresentations of reality. At least Hancock provides a disclaimer.

slackfan 4y ago

I really do hope you are ready to give up the right to theorize on any subject if you are not an expert. That includes: whether a job is bullshit or not, whether the calories you ate are good for you or not, and whether C++ is the right tool for the job or not. Sorry citizen, you are simply not a credential expert in these fields, enjoy your fine and labor camp.

UncleMeat 4y ago
My strategy in all fields where I am not an expert is to go talk to some experts and ask them to synthesize the expert consensus for me. For academic fields this is usually university faculty. For something like software design this would be a mentor with decades and decades of experience. Yeah, I think this is the right way to do it. "I'm just explaining my weird theory" is not a good approach to fields that you know little about.
- slackfan 4y ago
  One man's "experts" are another's "spreaders of dangerous disinformation".
  - UncleMeat 4y ago
    That's true, people are often wrong about evaluating expertise. This is why I seek out people at respected institutions who have a track record of respect from peers. No system is perfect, but I'm way more likely to hold correct opinions using this approach than most other approaches.