Why the Experts Are Losing
unherd.com
unherd.com
Gravity is an attracting force.
Uracil pairs with Adenine.
sqrt(9) == 3
No amount of public opinion, support or refusal will change that, because the universe simply doesn't care how many "Likes" an idea has.
If one takes a different branch of “square root” then sqrt(9) would be -3. This is assuming we are working in the field of real numbers. If we instead consider finite fields then things quickly get more interesting. Some finite fields contain square roots of 2 for instance.
A person not sufficiently well versed in mathematics might not have the insight or knowledge to say, “well, when talking about sqrt as a function from the reals to the reals that symbol always refers to the nonnegative root.” It’s easy to confuse people and it’s easy to do it at scale these days. Civilization is not prepared for this era of cheap, easy disinformation at scale.
Yep, but that's the beauty of reality: It doesn't matter if we accept it or not. It doesn't matter if it's difficult or not. It doesn't matter if we are prepared to handle it. Reality remains inviolate regardless of what we think, want or like.
We, as a civilization, can either accept that as a fact, and increase our chances of making it to a level of evolution and capability where maybe one day we can build Dyson Spheres and travel to other Galaxies, or we can pretend that our opinion matters alot.
The universe and reality won't care.
It means, the more we rely on factual evidence and the more we act based on knowledge based on it, the better we can cope with the universe.
To my perception, a central problem of civilization is how much we value opinion, and how much we base our actions on it rather than on hard fact.
If humanity acknowledges that its opinions don't matter, and reality is indeed what it is, then our way forward as a species will become a lot easier.
Here's another fact: Weapons inspector David Kelly was found dead in a field with his wrists cut, days after openly expressing fear for his life based on his refusal to lie for empire.
Try asking people how they feel about these (crucially important) facts: the vast majority will ask you what WTC7 is, and who David Kelly is.
Humans are part of the universe and they have killed people for what they believe is true in the past and they will continue doing so in the future. Try saying earth is not the center of the universe 500 years ago, especially if you have evidence.
All it takes is an emergency and even an expert becomes an average person: we go back to 'survival mode' on fear, that is human nature. And I believe fear to be one of the most abused drugs of this time.
Even testable truths sometimes are not testable because of time constraints. And we humans have to have faith things are true, which not everyone is used to doing, especially non-religious.
So although truth is very abstract for the universe it is very relative for us humans. And this relativity might get us killed.
It is true for everything in existence. It doesn't matter how complicated something is, or how difficult it is for humans to grasp: There is a single reality, and an explanation or assumption that does not explain it is either incomplete, approximative, or plain wrong.