> Cranks, almost by definition, are pretty much instantly recognizable to an expert: no one needs to apply extra scrutiny to catch them. Correct, but you are m

> Cranks, almost by definition, are pretty much instantly recognizable to an expert: no one needs to apply extra scrutiny to catch them. Correct, but you are missing a wrinkle. What if I disingeniously call people cranks? What if a lot of actual experts in one camp call actual experts of the other camp cranks? In the hard sciences we can deal with it. If one camp can build working satellites and the other cannot we know who the real deal is. But in softer sciences? It's an unsolved problem as far as I can tell.