The best thing twitter has done is shown to the average person just how ignorant the average academic is outside their narrow area of expertise and how susceptible to poor reasoning and groupthink they are.
It's one thing to hear a PhD speak about their field of expertise, particularly in a classroom setting where they're teaching the same material over and over. It's a whole other thing entirely to hear them talk about anything else. Most people only experience the former, but twitter lets you experience the latter.
It's something you also come to realize when you work with or get to know enough PhDs, but that's not something the average person does.
I'm listening to the Intellectuals and Society audiobook by Sowell. It hit upon this very topic; so many intellectuals think they're experts in everything just because they're experts in one thing. Their arrogance blinds them to their ignorance.
The best thing twitter has done is shown to the average person just how ignorant the average academic is outside their narrow area of expertise and how susceptible to poor reasoning and groupthink they are.
It's one thing to hear a PhD speak about their field of expertise, particularly in a classroom setting where they're teaching the same material over and over. It's a whole other thing entirely to hear them talk about anything else. Most people only experience the former, but twitter lets you experience the latter.
It's something you also come to realize when you work with or get to know enough PhDs, but that's not something the average person does.
I'm listening to the Intellectuals and Society audiobook by Sowell. It hit upon this very topic; so many intellectuals think they're experts in everything just because they're experts in one thing. Their arrogance blinds them to their ignorance.