I’m pretty sure that’s what most people are doing already. If everyone around you says climate change is a hoax, then that sure sounds like a consensus.
This is one of those questions that keeps nagging at me. I have the resources to actually go and learn about things and build a sufficiently large world model to filter out a lot of BS. But in areas that I’m less well versed in and that aren’t covered by my world model, I realize that I have no idea who the experts are or how to find the consensus without doing tons of reading. If I’ve read enough to determine the consensus position, then I’ll have absorbed enough of the material that I can be considered somewhat of an expert myself. So how can I possibly convince someone else without making them go through that whole process themselves? You probably don’t have an answer to this, but any ideas are welcome too if you happen to have any to share.
I knew I should have added “Scientific consensus” because sure, if you follow the neighbour down the street into his or her conspiracy rabbit hole, you’ll end up believing that climate change is a hoax invented by “the Jews” to hide the “fact” that the earth is flat, and that we never went to the moon, and that Bush did 9/11.
If you don’t have knowledge, and don’t know where to start, then it’s not your place to convince someone else. All you can say is then “I don’t know either”, which is a full sentence.
I don’t think that changes anything. For example, I’m not a nutrition expert, but it’s an area I’m very interested in and I consider myself reasonably well read on the subject. I still have no idea what the scientific consensus is on anything in the field, especially when so many papers end with “we know jack shit about this, but at least this study moves us forward a little bit”.
If you don’t have knowledge, and don’t know where to start, then it’s not your place to convince someone else
I’m talking about areas in which I do have the knowledge. It’s not a reasonable expectation for someone else to go through the same process that I did to gain all that knowledge. I can scream “CLIMATE CHANGE IS REAL BECAUSE LOOK AT THESE EXPERTS” as much as I want, but the other party will still have no way to verify my claims, or that these experts are actual experts and not some cherry-picked scientists.
I’m pretty sure that’s what most people are doing already. If everyone around you says climate change is a hoax, then that sure sounds like a consensus.
This is one of those questions that keeps nagging at me. I have the resources to actually go and learn about things and build a sufficiently large world model to filter out a lot of BS. But in areas that I’m less well versed in and that aren’t covered by my world model, I realize that I have no idea who the experts are or how to find the consensus without doing tons of reading. If I’ve read enough to determine the consensus position, then I’ll have absorbed enough of the material that I can be considered somewhat of an expert myself. So how can I possibly convince someone else without making them go through that whole process themselves? You probably don’t have an answer to this, but any ideas are welcome too if you happen to have any to share.
I knew I should have added “Scientific consensus” because sure, if you follow the neighbour down the street into his or her conspiracy rabbit hole, you’ll end up believing that climate change is a hoax invented by “the Jews” to hide the “fact” that the earth is flat, and that we never went to the moon, and that Bush did 9/11.
If you don’t have knowledge, and don’t know where to start, then it’s not your place to convince someone else. All you can say is then “I don’t know either”, which is a full sentence.
I don’t think that changes anything. For example, I’m not a nutrition expert, but it’s an area I’m very interested in and I consider myself reasonably well read on the subject. I still have no idea what the scientific consensus is on anything in the field, especially when so many papers end with “we know jack shit about this, but at least this study moves us forward a little bit”.
I’m talking about areas in which I do have the knowledge. It’s not a reasonable expectation for someone else to go through the same process that I did to gain all that knowledge. I can scream “CLIMATE CHANGE IS REAL BECAUSE LOOK AT THESE EXPERTS” as much as I want, but the other party will still have no way to verify my claims, or that these experts are actual experts and not some cherry-picked scientists.