Authority

It is one of the mysterious things about the Internet that there are huge amounts of information, but one can never be certain whether the information is trustworthy. Even worse are the opinions – it is impossible to be sure without thinking about it (sometimes in great detail) whether what someone has written on the net is profound insight or profound stupidity. And this is important, because people rely on the net for advice about health, diet, career and more. That caveat, “without thinking”, is the core. The net is sometimes touted as an alternative to education, a marvellous new source of knowledge and wisdom that will miraculously lead to equality, brotherhood and global prosperity. Of course, it is nothing of the sort. To make sense of the net requires both a sound basic education and a measure of both intelligence and common sense.

At the core of the issue is Authority – on what basis do we accept statements as true when we hear them? There are only two grounds on which we can make this judgement. First, we can know something is true because we have observed it directly ourself or deduced it ourself from facts that we already trust. Second, we can accept something as true because we have heard it from a source that we trust. This second level is authority – we listen to what some people say, even if we do not understand the issues, simply because of the person who says it.
As a topical example, take global warming. Is it happening or not? The people to listen to to decide this question are the scientists, not the politicians, because it is a question of science. However, when trying to decide what to do about global warming, one should listen to scientists when they talk about what is possible, but to economists when they talk about what is affordable and to politicians then they talk about what is feasible.
Authority applies everywhere, not just science – politics, economics, religion, fitness, on and on. We cannot function without it, but we have to be careful who we listen to and why. To accept what we are told uncritically is to abdicate our responsibility to ourselves, our countries and the world, because it puts us at the mercy of propaganda and spin doctoring. Only by applying our critical faculties to what we are told can we learn to sift truth from lies.

pax et bonum

Article posted at 7:47pm on 17 September 2004
Category: Faith, Musing, Science