This is just an appeal to authority with a dash of shaming. You’re failing to consider the opposite bias, where professionals whose income and prestige depends

This is just an appeal to authority with a dash of shaming. You’re failing to consider the opposite bias, where professionals whose income and prestige depends on a particular idea fail to critically assess it and judge themselves based on their motivations rather than outcomes — and outsiders who only see the claims and outcomes have a less biased view. That’s the case for gain-of-function research: - the US banned it despite expert opinions - a rogue expert circumvented that ban by outsourcing the work to China - that Chinese lab leaked the studied virus, causing a global pandemic - the rogue scientist panicked and bribed several peers to help him cover that up and claim a “natural” origin - millions of people are dead due to hubris and personal biases