The evidence for their being better at this than laymen is at best mixed. Editors and media are bad at sufficiently filtering things like climate change denial and creationism, while faculty and administrators are better. I would argue that everyone on that list is likely to have a “neutrality bias”, by which I mean they are often more concerned with appearing “objective” or “centrist” than they are with saying true things. Both the left and right operate large “flak industries” to try to shift what counts as “objective” in one direction or the other.
They became better with racism, but only with the help of popular movements. Legislation made them better about persons with disabilities. We’re seeing similar shifts right now concerning sexism and homophobia.
It would be difficult to get an very accurate picture of where such elites do well and badly. The metric would have to involve a specification of what counts as “correct” or “popular” morality, as well as the epistemic merit of a huge variety of politically-charged positions. If you want to get past simple outcome-based statements concerning a specific position, it’s a hard problem. Do they do well enough to maintain a diverse, intellectually stimulating environment?
Media editors? No. Corporate boards and managers? Sometimes, but very often no. Publishers? A mix. University administrators and faculty? Mostly yes.
Are they “getting it right” when they select against racialists and Stalinists? Yes.
What standard are you using to judge whether they’re correct or not? I disagree with most of your answers. I’m guessing that if I pressed you enough, you’d wind up answering “the gate keepers (especially the ones at universities) are more-or-less doing a good job, I know this because they told me so”.
I pause to add to a different comment of mine from elsewhere in this thread, where I stated that right-wing libertarians are over-represented. I happen to think that this is a good thing, even if I think that right-wing libertarian ideology is wrong, and if consistently implemented, morally awful.
At the university level, at least, they tend to be much more interesting to talk to than people who agree with me. They also provide an excellent service: if you want to know what’s wrong with particular government policies you’ve never heard of, libertarians will happily assist you.
What standard are you using to judge whether they’re correct or not?
Several. Here’s an example: do they tend to promote true ideas over false ones, even on politicized topics? Yes. It makes a lot of movement conservatives and radical environmentalists angry, but they do. This is anecdotal, but I have an easier time finding people willing to listen to my unpopular ideas amongst students and faculty than I do with my neighbors.
I’m guessing that pressed you enough, you’d wind up answering “the gate keepers (especially the ones at universities) are more-or-less doing a good job, I know this because they told me so”.
And you’d be guessing incorrectly. See the previous response. I suppose you’re working on the response to a previous comment of mine wherein I asked you to describe what you think the political atmosphere at universities to be like. I will also refer back to my first comment, wherein I asked whether or not intellectual diversity has been improving or not—I think it has been.
Is there any evidence that these gatekeepers are particularly good at making this judgement?
The evidence for their being better at this than laymen is at best mixed. Editors and media are bad at sufficiently filtering things like climate change denial and creationism, while faculty and administrators are better. I would argue that everyone on that list is likely to have a “neutrality bias”, by which I mean they are often more concerned with appearing “objective” or “centrist” than they are with saying true things. Both the left and right operate large “flak industries” to try to shift what counts as “objective” in one direction or the other.
They became better with racism, but only with the help of popular movements. Legislation made them better about persons with disabilities. We’re seeing similar shifts right now concerning sexism and homophobia.
It would be difficult to get an very accurate picture of where such elites do well and badly. The metric would have to involve a specification of what counts as “correct” or “popular” morality, as well as the epistemic merit of a huge variety of politically-charged positions. If you want to get past simple outcome-based statements concerning a specific position, it’s a hard problem. Do they do well enough to maintain a diverse, intellectually stimulating environment?
Media editors? No. Corporate boards and managers? Sometimes, but very often no. Publishers? A mix. University administrators and faculty? Mostly yes.
Are they “getting it right” when they select against racialists and Stalinists? Yes.
What standard are you using to judge whether they’re correct or not? I disagree with most of your answers. I’m guessing that if I pressed you enough, you’d wind up answering “the gate keepers (especially the ones at universities) are more-or-less doing a good job, I know this because they told me so”.
I pause to add to a different comment of mine from elsewhere in this thread, where I stated that right-wing libertarians are over-represented. I happen to think that this is a good thing, even if I think that right-wing libertarian ideology is wrong, and if consistently implemented, morally awful.
At the university level, at least, they tend to be much more interesting to talk to than people who agree with me. They also provide an excellent service: if you want to know what’s wrong with particular government policies you’ve never heard of, libertarians will happily assist you.
This may be true in economic departments, this is most definitely not true in universities in general.
Several. Here’s an example: do they tend to promote true ideas over false ones, even on politicized topics? Yes. It makes a lot of movement conservatives and radical environmentalists angry, but they do. This is anecdotal, but I have an easier time finding people willing to listen to my unpopular ideas amongst students and faculty than I do with my neighbors.
And you’d be guessing incorrectly. See the previous response. I suppose you’re working on the response to a previous comment of mine wherein I asked you to describe what you think the political atmosphere at universities to be like. I will also refer back to my first comment, wherein I asked whether or not intellectual diversity has been improving or not—I think it has been.
This is what is known as circular reasoning.