Episode 20: Who Do You Trust? Part 3: Trusting Experts (And Why We Often Don't)

Send us Fan MailIn this episode, April discusses the importance of experts in society and why it's so hard for some people to trust them. And, as promised, she put lots of articles in the show notes below, because she wants you to trust her. Episode 20 Show NotesFor science information that's both educational and entertaining, subscribe to Phil Plait's astronomy blog:https://www.syfy.com/tags/bad-astronomyDaniel Newman's article about expertise is focused more towards marketing, but still applies:https://www.forbes.com/sites/danielnewman/2014/04/22/experts-may-have-influence-but-what-makes-an-expert/?sh=6a6f846212c8Here's the NPR article about Idaho lawmakers calling their public health officials elitists:https://www.boisestatepublicradio.org/politics-government/2020-08-10/idaho-lawmaker-listening-to-experts-is-an-elitist-approach-to-coronavirus-restrictionsA great article from the Christian Science Monitor about our worsening anti-intellectualism and distrust of experts:https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2018/0827/Who-made-you-an-expert-Is-America-s-distrust-of-elites-becoming-more-toxicJacques Peretti's excellent discussion of how "elite" became a bad word:https://qz.com/1237582/how-elite-became-a-bad-word/Some articles discussing the factors that play a role in whether/how much individuals trust science:https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/02/do-you-trust-science-these-five-factors-play-big-rolehttps://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/02/12/key-findings-about-americans-confidence-in-science-and-their-views-on-scientists-role-in-society/Gleb Tsipursky's article about distrust in science:https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/dis-trust-in-science/Fascinating paper about anti-intellectualism in America:https://journals.sagepub.com/eprint/zQnndNgGgDkpWwavHMnA/fullArticles about the Dunning Kruger effect and covid conspiracy theories: https://europepmc.org/article/MED/29966822https://www.sciencedirect.com/sdfe/pdf/download/eid/1-s2.0-S0277953618303964/first-page-pdfA really good paper (that I didn't have time to discuss) outlining some ways that public health experts might get more people to trust them:https://kiej.georgetown.edu/trust-experts-and-covid-19-special-issue/Maria Baghramian's blog post about expertise:https://jerichochambers.com/trust-in-experts-why-and-why-not/Tom Nichols on expertise and why it's important:https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/201