I think you’re comparing apples to oranges here. When people get into topics where they have no personal contact with reality, you should be comparing to fields where experiments aren’t feasible and people are mostly pontificating. When people read books written by people that are crazy or lying but popular, you should be comparing to fields where professors are faking data to get publications—while also trading citations, of course. When you compare individuals to something like experimental physics or civil engineering, you should be comparing that to something like cooking food.
I think you’re comparing apples to oranges here. When people get into topics where they have no personal contact with reality, you should be comparing to fields where experiments aren’t feasible and people are mostly pontificating. When people read books written by people that are crazy or lying but popular, you should be comparing to fields where professors are faking data to get publications—while also trading citations, of course. When you compare individuals to something like experimental physics or civil engineering, you should be comparing that to something like cooking food.