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.
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.