Nothing worthwhile is ever easy

[Withnail]

People want to feel smart. They want to impress other people with those “smarts”. The problem is, being smart takes a lot of work for most. To understand, say, a field of science, years of difficult college classes are required. And you spend those years focusing on small aspects of your field, and only touch the tip of the iceberg of all there is to know and learn. And it is not guaranteed you will graduate or even grasp what is being taught. Science is some very difficult stuff.

Now…

People want to feel smart. They want to impress others with those “smarts”. Science is hard but instead of years of mind crunching study, they see another option – the local new age book store. Pick any book and it takes only a weekend to read and comprehend what is being said. They understand, and feel empowered by their new “secret” knowledge. Homeopathy is a breeze compared to chemistry (no accident, that). This is a powerful incentive to embrace “woo”. It makes one feel smart and thus good about themselves. It allows them to feel like they have something special to share with others. Something that can change lives, as they see it.

But now, real science is an extra threat to their ego. Not only were they too lazy to seek a real education but those with a science education are a threat to their own perceived intelligence. They then seek to discredit real science, though only wind up making fools of themselves because they don’t know enough about it to make any sense. Feeling the ego slip they race back to the New Age book store and find another easily read 300 page book that, away from critical thought, re-convinces them they are smart and science is farce.

I explained this to a “woo” friend once and he realized how intellectually dishonest he was being with himself. He saw that being smart is hard work and shortcuts only lead to false conclusions and embarrassment when flaky ideas are put to the test of real hard-earned scientific knowledge.

Can this point get though to others? That real knowledge usually does not come from a weekend of easy-to-read new age books? That they are being lazy in trying to substitute mental effort for quick enlightenment? How is this not obvious to them? Ah yes, peolpe want to feel smart more, it seems, than they want to be smart.

[Ryokan]

Well said!

[Jimbo07]

Ah yes, peolpe want to feel smart more, it seems, than they want to be smart.

Agreed.

It holds, though, for scientists talking outside their field, too. It holds any time anyone speaks authoritatively in an area where their audience may have the same, or more, expertise. It is especially dangerous if the speaker has little knowledge to begin with, and the audience, less! :eek:


I explained this to a “woo” friend once and he realized how intellectually dishonest he was being with himself.

Here you're on shaky ground. You run the risk of sounding arrogant and losing your audience (it's happened to me :o ). You're lucky your "woo" friend was open to his own shortcomings and didn't resent your observation of same. This was discussed by Complexity and others and my basic take is, 'Be unforgiving with perpetrators of woo, but be very careful or even accomodating with victims of woo.'

[Withnail]

Here you're on shaky ground. You run the risk of sounding arrogant and losing your audience (it's happened to me :o ). You're lucky your "woo" friend was open to his own shortcomings and didn't resent your observation of same. This was discussed by Complexity and others and my basic take is, 'Be unforgiving with perpetrators of woo, but be very careful or even accomodating with victims of woo.'

I didn't present it as the difference between him and me, but rather as something we had in common with most everybody else to some extent. We all want to feel smart. It wasn't like I had read all those science books myself -- so I wasn't stating that I was all that smarter than him. I was just aware of what made other people smarter than me. But yeah, he was open to the ideas where most entrenched woos are not. I often asked him to play Devil's Advocate just for the sake of arguement and I think he started to discover it lead to less confusion than his woo positions.

[Soapy Sam]

I think your argument might benefit from a clear distinction between "smart" , which is an innate property and "informed" which is a property resulting from study. Some smart people study, but not all studious people are smart.
There is a difference between 'ignorant' and 'stupid' . Regrettably, both ignorant and stupid people may be unaware of the difference.

[Mojo]

He saw that being smart is hard work and shortcuts only lead to false conclusions and embarrassment when flaky ideas are put to the test of real hard-earned scientific knowledge. The trouble is that woos will just pretend that science is somehow not qualified to examine their ideas and carry on business as usual, for example here (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4183916.stm):A spokeswoman from the Society of Homeopaths said: "Many previous studies have demonstrated that homeopathy has an effect over and above placebo.

"It has been established beyond doubt and accepted by many researchers, that the placebo-controlled randomised controlled trial is not a fitting research tool with which to test homeopathy." And their victims will believe them.

[HeyLeroy]

People want to feel smart. They want to impress other people with those “smarts”. The problem is, being smart takes a lot of work for most. To understand, say, a field of science, years of difficult college classes are required. And you spend those years focusing on small aspects of your field, and only touch the tip of the iceberg of all there is to know and learn. And it is not guaranteed you will graduate or even grasp what is being taught. Science is some very difficult stuff.

Now…

People want to feel smart. They want to impress others with those “smarts”. Science is hard but instead of years of mind crunching study, they see another option – the local new age book store. Pick any book and it takes only a weekend to read and comprehend what is being said. They understand, and feel empowered by their new “secret” knowledge. Homeopathy is a breeze compared to chemistry (no accident, that). This is a powerful incentive to embrace “woo”. It makes one feel smart and thus good about themselves. It allows them to feel like they have something special to share with others. Something that can change lives, as they see it.

But now, real science is an extra threat to their ego. Not only were they too lazy to seek a real education but those with a science education are a threat to their own perceived intelligence. They then seek to discredit real science, though only wind up making fools of themselves because they don’t know enough about it to make any sense. Feeling the ego slip they race back to the New Age book store and find another easily read 300 page book that, away from critical thought, re-convinces them they are smart and science is farce.

I explained this to a “woo” friend once and he realized how intellectually dishonest he was being with himself. He saw that being smart is hard work and shortcuts only lead to false conclusions and embarrassment when flaky ideas are put to the test of real hard-earned scientific knowledge.

Can this point get though to others? That real knowledge usually does not come from a weekend of easy-to-read new age books? That they are being lazy in trying to substitute mental effort for quick enlightenment? How is this not obvious to them? Ah yes, peolpe want to feel smart more, it seems, than they want to be smart.

Nominated for TLA, just to letcha know. Good words.

[The Black Fox]

but not all studious people are smart.

I am living proof that this is so.

(dammit how many posts do I need to get an avatar??)

[Yuri Nalyssus]

People want to feel smart. They want to impress others with those “smarts”. Science is hard but instead of years of mind crunching study, they see another option – the local new age book store. Pick any book and it takes only a weekend to read and comprehend what is being said. They understand, and feel empowered by their new “secret” knowledge.
The trouble with this bland, homogenous post-modern world is the widespread feeling that opinions and feelings are of equal stature to facts and scientific endeavour. In some circles the claims of an individual to be able to see an aura, or adjust a chakra are on a par with a doctor doing an ecg or an mri scan.

The problem is further compounded when woo individuals come into the research arena and their claims are investigated. Clinical trials and experienced researchers aren't always able to allow for self delusion or downright deception on the part of subjects. Hence "extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence".

Quacks don't even have to have an in-depth knowledge of their chosen brand of woo, an ability to reproduce similar sounding pseudoscientific gibberish is all that's required. As long as you're flying the flag for woo, very few questions will be asked.

Yuri