Guest post: The cult of ignorance
Originally a comment by iknklast on Trump names his heroes.
Team Him will just say, as usual, that the voters knew that when they voted for him
And he’d be right. Many of his voters voted for him precisely because he was unfit – they seem to think that is some good thing, having no idea what you’re doing. This is seeping into a lot of fields, too. The idea that teachers should be experienced is coming under attack from our “school reform” people – including those on the Obama team. The idea of using experienced people to sell your house? List with a realtor, and see how many people make fun of you for paying a commission, when you could just “do it yourself”. It is nearly impossible to get elected to a school board if you have any education experience. And then, don’t get me started on the whole anti-expertise movement in the medical field, leading to a burgeoning of nonsensical health claims by uninformed people.
But, boy, put one comment out there critical of religion, and they will inform you that you must be properly versed in all aspects of that religion, broad, universal knowledge, before you can say a word against it. Experts in religion are not regarded well by the masses, either, until the time someone points out the nonsense of their position.
Right, I could easily operate on my own appendix with a new X-acto. All I need is a wet sponge, some duct tape and a quart of whiskey for sedation. (Except by then the target tends to blur.) (And also, it’s already been removed.) But other than that!
Seriously, this widespread open contempt of skill, any skill, is very very scary. A contagion. A pandemia. Is Trump the vaccine? Hmm, maybe not.
Eliza, where the Devil is my X-acto?
At least it’s not a problem in my trade (oh wait, the greybeards have contempt for the engineers, which is usually unwarranted)…