Just finished streaming Episode 395 of the Making Sense podcast. What an apt remark Sam makes on the current situation. We’re living through a peculiar moment in human history where the democratization of information—which should, in theory, make us smarter—has paradoxically made us more confused, or shall I say “Amusing ourselves to death” as Neil Postman bluntly put it across over 3 decades ago. For those not finding it in them to read the book, here is a video https://youtu.be/6QltxZ-vPMc?si=-lyWspdnRiWVxt03.
The internet, that grand experiment in collective knowledge, is a breeding ground for conspiracy theories, willful ignorance, and intellectual tribalism 🤡. Let’s me be clear about what I want to say in agreement with Sam’s monologue: expertise matters. And not in some elitist, top-down manner, but in a fundamentally practical way. When I want to understand quantum physics, I’m going to listen to physicists. When I need medical advice, I’ll consult doctors—not random internet commentators or self-proclaimed “researchers” who’ve spent 14 hours watching YouTube videos. Especially so because we are not into a strange landscape where confidence masquerades as competence, and a Google search is considered equivalent to a graduate degree. This is the age of the amateur expert, where everyone with a smartphone believes they’re one YouTube tutorial away from understanding complex global systems
What I am saying is also not about blind trust. It’s about recognizing that specialization is a feature, not a bug, of human knowledge. Consider the imprudence of entrusting the construction of your home to a YouTuber who reviews other peoples houses, who despite their charisma, lacks the requisite expertise. The current cultural phenomenon of “doing your own research” is often a euphemism for finding information that confirms your pre-existing beliefs. It’s not research—it’s confirmation bias dressed up as intellectual rigor. When people say they’ve “done their own research” about, what they usually mean is they’ve found a contrarian voice that sounds compelling.
The real danger isn’t expertise. The real danger is the systematic erosion of intellectual standards. We’re creating a culture where being confidently wrong is celebrated more than being carefully correct. Where the loudest voice trumps the most informed voice. The real problem isn’t that people are curious. Curiosity is good. The problem is that we’ve developed a cultural mechanism that rewards contrarianism over substance. Social media algorithms don’t promote nuanced understanding; they amplify extreme positions that generate emotional engagement.
What worries me the most is genuine experts risking their professional reputations by making incorrect claims for financial gains, as Sam also hints at. I find my WhatsApp and that of my family members flooded with these conspiracy theories. we have groups filled with random boomer uncles posting conspiracy theories. Its just painful to see the undoing and erosion of the rigor and temper built over past couple centuries.
While no expert is infallible, the collective expertise we have cultivated represents our most reliable approximation of truth. And the tradition must be preserved and carried forward. As I ponder over these thoughts, I’ll add more of my meditations here. Please feel free to drop your ideas.
Until later….🖖