October 23, 2020
Who do you trust?: Mobilization, polarization and the erosion of public expertise
Union of Concerned Scientists, Oct. 23, 2020 (Blog)
Who do you trust?: Mobilization, polarization and the erosion of public expertise
David S. Meyer, UCI professor of sociology and political science writes, “So, who do we trust for expert judgment? The criteria for expertise are achingly obvious and conventional: specialized training in a relevant area, experience in working on similar problems, and engagement in a professional community which shares a set of methods for adjudicating disputes. In truth, the COVID-19 case provides a particularly garish example of the costs of ignoring the relevant experts—professionals from public health, epidemiology, and infectious disease—generally agree.”