You write, "There is a wide, substantive, and serious theological gulf between Jews and Christians"
I would argue, only on the surface. A debate for another day perhaps.
More to the point of this article, another limitation of experts....
As you point out, being an expert is a business. And the expert's most precious business asset is their professional reputation. All expert's are required to protect their reputation if their business is to survive.
What this means is that....
1) Experts can be very useful within the scope of the commonly accepted group consensus, because experts have a lot of information. So far, so good.
2) But experts are typically unable to publicly explore ideas outside of the group consensus, as that risks them being branded as a kook, a mortal threat to their careers. So for example, this is why scientists, academics, journalists and other intellectual workers have been so slow to involve themselves in the UFO phenomena, the biggest story in human history. The expert's career takes priority over the intellectual work.
Why does this matter?
If a problem can be solved by some idea within the group consensus, there's a good chance that problem already has been solved, thus no need for an expert.
The real work is in confronting those problems which can't be solved by ideas which the group consensus considers to be normal, reasonable and acceptable etc. In this case experts can be an obstacle, because they have the cultural authority, but will tend to resist and dismiss unconventional ideas, because that's the safe play for them.
And so what experts often do is present an image of being a radical thinker etc, without taking on the risk of actually being a radical thinker.
Outstanding as always Alan and a great honour to be the subject of an article! I agree with you generally, but the fact remains that if we don’t know the basic basics, we'll be back to socialism.
1. In the wake of the financial collapse of 2008, what are the "basic basics" that would stop a generation of disillusioned young people from lurching toward the progressive, socialist Left?
Wow, good one. A few quick contributions...
You write, "There is a wide, substantive, and serious theological gulf between Jews and Christians"
I would argue, only on the surface. A debate for another day perhaps.
More to the point of this article, another limitation of experts....
As you point out, being an expert is a business. And the expert's most precious business asset is their professional reputation. All expert's are required to protect their reputation if their business is to survive.
What this means is that....
1) Experts can be very useful within the scope of the commonly accepted group consensus, because experts have a lot of information. So far, so good.
2) But experts are typically unable to publicly explore ideas outside of the group consensus, as that risks them being branded as a kook, a mortal threat to their careers. So for example, this is why scientists, academics, journalists and other intellectual workers have been so slow to involve themselves in the UFO phenomena, the biggest story in human history. The expert's career takes priority over the intellectual work.
Why does this matter?
If a problem can be solved by some idea within the group consensus, there's a good chance that problem already has been solved, thus no need for an expert.
The real work is in confronting those problems which can't be solved by ideas which the group consensus considers to be normal, reasonable and acceptable etc. In this case experts can be an obstacle, because they have the cultural authority, but will tend to resist and dismiss unconventional ideas, because that's the safe play for them.
And so what experts often do is present an image of being a radical thinker etc, without taking on the risk of actually being a radical thinker.
Outstanding as always Alan and a great honour to be the subject of an article! I agree with you generally, but the fact remains that if we don’t know the basic basics, we'll be back to socialism.
All cituzens have the responsibility to ensure that doesn’t happen.
1. In the wake of the financial collapse of 2008, what are the "basic basics" that would stop a generation of disillusioned young people from lurching toward the progressive, socialist Left?
2. Are credit default swaps part of the basics?
It appears that nothing is stopping them, at least not in NYC.