This may be why very smart folks often find themselves unable to commit to an actual view on disputed topics, despite being better informed than most of those who do take sides. When attending to informed debates, we hear a chorus of disagreement, but very little overt agreement. And we are wired to conduct a head count of proponents and opponents before deciding whether an idea is credible. Someone who can see the flaws in the popular arguments, and who sees lots of unpopular expert ideas but few ideas that informed people agree on, may give up looking for the right answer.
The problem is that smart people don’t give much credit to informed expressions of agreement when parceling out status. The heroic falsfier, or the proposer of the great new idea, get all the glory.
Good points.
This may be why very smart folks often find themselves unable to commit to an actual view on disputed topics, despite being better informed than most of those who do take sides. When attending to informed debates, we hear a chorus of disagreement, but very little overt agreement. And we are wired to conduct a head count of proponents and opponents before deciding whether an idea is credible. Someone who can see the flaws in the popular arguments, and who sees lots of unpopular expert ideas but few ideas that informed people agree on, may give up looking for the right answer.
The problem is that smart people don’t give much credit to informed expressions of agreement when parceling out status. The heroic falsfier, or the proposer of the great new idea, get all the glory.