What's annoying is that the world now provides all the ammo anyone could require to make bullshit truthful-seeming arguments that a non-expert can't pick apart; and there's really a massive difference in what you do when you're trying to understand the truth, vs trying to defend your tribe.

Even at the highest academic strata this is a challenge, even about non-politicized topics (e.g., that thing about academic battles being so vicious because the stakes are so small.) Once you add in real stakes, look out.