{"id":1490313,"date":"2024-09-17T02:35:00","date_gmt":"2024-09-17T06:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/?p=1490313"},"modified":"2024-09-17T02:35:00","modified_gmt":"2024-09-17T06:35:00","slug":"experts-gone-wild","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/experts-gone-wild\/1490313\/","title":{"rendered":"Experts Gone Wild"},"content":{"rendered":"

Experts Gone Wild<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Authored by Mike Scanlon via RealClearDefense.com,<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

An ability to win\u00a0hearts and minds<\/a>\u00a0has long been seen by America\u2019s leadership as essential to domestic and international politics and security.\u00a0 For much of the Pax Americana, our government and intelligentsia have poured time, effort, and money into\u00a0studying<\/a>\u00a0how to\u00a0persuade<\/a>\u00a0everyone from\u00a0allies<\/a>\u00a0to\u00a0enemies<\/a>\u00a0and, conversely, how to\u00a0counter<\/a>\u00a0an opponent\u2019s influence campaigns.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

But something essential has\u00a0changed<\/a>\u00a0since the rise of President Donald Trump as a political force.\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

During the Cold War, President Dwight Eisenhower\u00a0spoke up<\/a>\u00a0against censorship and for lay readers in the wake of an attempt by Senator Joseph McCarthy\u2019s henchmen to\u00a0eradicate communist books<\/a>\u00a0from libraries:<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t join the book burners. \u00a0Don\u2019t think you are going to conceal faults by concealing evidence that they ever existed. \u00a0Don\u2019t be afraid to go in your library and read every book . . . .<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

How will we defeat communism unless we know what it is, and what it teaches, and why does it have such an appeal for men, why are so many people swearing allegiance to it? \u00a0. . .<\/em><\/p>\n

And we have got to fight it with something better, not try to conceal the thinking of our own people. \u00a0They are part of America. \u00a0And even if they think ideas that are contrary to ours, their right to say them, their right to record them, and their right to have them at places where they are accessible to others is unquestioned, or it isn\u2019t America.<\/em><\/p>\n

These days, America\u2019s most educated have grown distrustful of non-experts and their ability to process\u00a0dangerous ideas<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Our elites have launched a\u00a0campaign<\/a>\u00a0to protect the undereducated from themselves.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The credentialed class pressures book retailers to stop selling \u201cuncritical<\/a>\u201d translations of sinister foreign texts, meaning those lacking an accepted authority\u2019s \u201csoberly critical framing, complete with detailed footnotes, contextual commentary, or other forms of annotation.\u201d \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Journalists writing about\u00a0controversial topics<\/a>\u00a0do not link directly to primary sources but instead filter such news \u201cthrough multiple layers of condemnation by a shrinking pool of academics trusted to read raw material.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Our best and brightest<\/a>\u00a0unabashedly seek<\/a>\u00a0to\u00a0silence<\/a>\u00a0individuals who\u00a0disagree<\/a>\u00a0with their betters and to\u00a0regulate<\/a>\u00a0(or outright\u00a0suppress<\/a>) social media sites that allow\u00a0free<\/a>\u00a0(or\u00a0free-ish<\/a>) debate about\u00a0unsafe thoughts<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Opinion<\/a>\u00a0makers<\/a>\u00a0cheer on<\/a>\u00a0activists<\/a>\u00a0seeking<\/a>\u00a0to\u00a0deplatform<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0shout down<\/a>\u00a0an ever-growing list of enemies, including those who\u00a0refused to toe the party line<\/a>\u00a0on\u00a0Russia\u2019s war in the Ukraine<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Self-proclaimed defenders of press freedom<\/a>\u00a0are\u00a0rallying<\/a>\u00a0to\u00a0safeguard<\/a>\u00a0the\u00a0right<\/a>\u00a0of\u00a0social media companies<\/a>\u00a0to\u00a0collaborate<\/a>\u00a0with\u00a0state actors<\/a>\u00a0to\u00a0squelch wrongheaded arguments<\/a>\u00a0and to\u00a0wall the incorrigible off<\/a>\u00a0from the\u00a0marketplace of ideas<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

The Biden Administration tried to establish a\u00a0governance board<\/a>\u00a0to\u00a0combat disinformation<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

That crusade is not going well.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

As Martin Gurri has pointed out\u00a0time<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0time again<\/a>, America\u2019s thought leaders and information curators are\u00a0on the ropes<\/a>.\u00a0 Academics, think tankers, pundits, and policymakers no longer can hide the fact that they often either\u00a0have no clue<\/a>\u00a0what they are doing<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0are all too willing<\/a>\u00a0to oversell their case<\/a>\u2014and will\u00a0purposefully obfuscate<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0outright lie<\/a>\u00a0from time<\/a>\u00a0to time<\/a>\u00a0to get<\/a>\u00a0their way<\/a>. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Yet most experts are more than happy to pretend as if\u00a0nothing were wrong<\/a>\u00a0as they claw their way up the professional ladder.\u00a0 Some insist on singing\u00a0paeans<\/a>\u00a0to\u00a0themselves<\/a>\u00a0while demanding ever-greater protection from\u00a0open competition<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0even outside criticism<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Take, for instance, the authorities advocating a muscular foreign policy or demanding robust countermeasures against domestic extremism.\u00a0\u00a0The\u00a0Global War on Terror<\/a>\u00a0was\u00a0not<\/a>\u00a0America\u2019s\u00a0finest hour<\/a>.\u00a0 We lost\u00a0Afghanistan<\/a>.\u00a0 It would be difficult to\u00a0claim<\/a>\u00a0victory in\u00a0Iraq<\/a>.\u00a0 The\u00a0great hopes<\/a>\u00a0of the\u00a0Arab Spring<\/a>\u00a0came to\u00a0naught<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But repeated failures did\u00a0not cause self-doubt<\/a>\u00a0to\u00a0creep into the minds<\/a>\u00a0of\u00a0credentialed militarists<\/a>\u00a0of\u00a0any stripe<\/a>.\u00a0 Most\u00a0continue<\/a>d to insist that the\u00a0next war would go our way<\/a>. <\/strong>\u00a0Some have even been trying to expand their territory, such as the counterinsurgency specialists who\u00a0tout<\/a>\u00a0their experience in (wildly unsuccessful) campaigns against international extremism and propaganda when marketing themselves as would-be, should-be\u00a0leaders<\/a>\u00a0of the war against domestic extremism and disinformation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There was never any reason to\u00a0assume<\/a>\u00a0that the pro-war clique would fare\u00a0any<\/a>\u00a0better<\/a>\u00a0if provided\u00a0yet another opportunity<\/a>. \u00a0And\u00a0failures<\/a>\u00a0have piled on\u00a0missed<\/a>\u00a0opportunities<\/a>\u00a0in the\u00a0Ukraine<\/a>\u00a0to the\u00a0point<\/a>\u00a0where security specialists are,\u00a0once again<\/a>,\u00a0scrambling<\/a>\u00a0to protect the foreign policy establishment by\u00a0blaming<\/a>\u00a0its most recent fiasco on a lack of American\u00a0commitment<\/a>\u00a0to winning\u00a0what<\/a>\u00a0may<\/a>\u00a0always have been an\u00a0unwinnable<\/a>\u00a0war<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The crisis afflicting much of America\u2019s expert class is less that the internet has made it easier for the public to push back, and more that the elite\u2019s\u00a0preferred models<\/a>\u00a0just don\u2019t work<\/a>.\u00a0 For instance, many disinformation experts justify censorship with a model positing that\u00a0malevolent information drives malevolent acts<\/a>.\u00a0 Similarly, some domestic terrorism experts\u00a0justify increased surveillance<\/a>\u00a0with a model positing that terrorists broadcast their \u201cterrorist intent<\/a>\u201d before engaging in acts of terrorism.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But, even if most people who commit violent acts were exposed to disinformation or made some announcement of terrorist intent, notably\u00a0lacking<\/a>\u00a0is\u00a0substantial evidence<\/a>\u00a0that a significant percentage of the people exposed to disinformation or of the individuals articulating terrorist intent go on to commit violent acts.\u00a0 In other words, many of our leading domestic security experts seem unwilling or unable to differentiate between a hypothesis and a theory.\u00a0 This is suboptimal.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Worse, the\u00a0smarter-than-thou crowd<\/a>\u00a0continues to push for surveillance and censorship despite the glaring problems with their firmly held beliefs about causality and causation.\u00a0 <\/strong>The proposition that bad ideas lead to bad acts has been \u201cdisproven over and over again<\/a>.\u201d \u00a0And even many of the authorities seeking to elevate their profiles by\u00a0fearmongering<\/a>\u00a0about \u201cstochastic terrorism<\/a>\u201d must\u00a0admit<\/a>\u00a0that the hateful speech in the establishment\u2019s targets is unregulatable\u00a0under American law<\/a>.\u00a0 Unlike \u201ca call to lynch someone when a mob has gathered nearby<\/a>,\u201d the \u201cuse of mass media to provoke random acts of ideologically motivated violence that are statistically predictable but individually unpredictable<\/a>\u201d just isn\u2019t \u201cadvocacy . . . \u00a0directed to inciting or producing imminent lawless action and . . . likely to incite or produce such action<\/a>.\u201d\u00a0 It can\u2019t meet\u00a0the standard<\/a>\u00a0required for the government to forbid or punish inflammatory speech.<\/p>\n

To<\/a>\u00a0the<\/a>\u00a0extent<\/a>\u00a0that<\/a>\u00a0America<\/a>\u00a0still<\/a>\u00a0cares<\/a>\u00a0about<\/a>\u00a0freedom<\/a>\u00a0of<\/a>\u00a0speech<\/a>\u00a0or<\/a>\u00a0other<\/a>\u00a0civil<\/a>\u00a0liberties<\/a>,\u00a0the<\/a>\u00a0surveil<\/a>–and<\/a>–censor<\/a>\u00a0hacks<\/a>\u00a0should<\/a>\u00a0be<\/a>\u00a0laughed<\/a>\u00a0off<\/a>\u00a0the<\/a>\u00a0stage<\/a>.\u00a0 Yet the grandees of the so-called \u201cCensorship-Industrial Complex<\/a>\u201d are overplaying an incredibly weak hand based on what appears to be little more than blind faith that the public isn\u2019t qualified to question the elite.\u00a0 This is silly;\u00a0the emperor has no clothes<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The collected academic expertise of the anti-disinformation movement proved itself worthless in the real world because disinformation specialists were incapable of preventing the\u00a0Biden Administration<\/a>\u2019s\u00a0Disinformation Governance Board<\/a>\u00a0from falling victim to\u2014of all things\u2014a\u00a0disinformation campaign<\/a>.\u00a0 Given the anti-disinformation crowd\u2019s\u00a0admitted<\/a>\u00a0inability to effectively contest disinformation with speech and counter-speech in open competition, the public has every right to question whether the\u00a0Biden Administration<\/a>\u2019s \u201cMinistry of Truth<\/a>\u201d was meant to institute a\u00a0de facto<\/em>\u00a0censorship regime where progressive- or establishment-led media and social media companies would\u00a0collude<\/a>\u00a0with like-minded state actors to suppress populist voices. \u00a0<\/p>\n

The disinformation that touched off the anti-disinformation crusade\u2014propaganda propounded by the Russian government during the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections\u2014either\u00a0appears<\/a>\u00a0far too<\/a>\u00a0ham-handed<\/a>\u00a0to be\u00a0persuasive<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0seems<\/a>\u00a0all<\/a>\u00a0but<\/a>\u00a0indistinguishable<\/a>\u00a0from<\/a>\u00a0arguments<\/a>\u00a0and<\/a>\u00a0assertions<\/a>\u00a0made by America\u2019s\u00a0most highly esteemed<\/a>\u00a0progressive identitarians<\/a>.\u00a0<\/strong> Given the anti-disinformation cult\u2019s penchant for\u00a0announcing causation<\/a>\u00a0rather than\u00a0proving<\/a>\u00a0it, the public has every right to question whether disinformation specialists operate in a fantasy world of\u00a0just-so stories<\/a>\u00a0where fancy academic degrees and enviable job titles can magically transform an \u201cand\u201d (the Russian government tried to interfere with the 2016 presidential election, and Donald Trump won) into a \u201cso\u201d (the Russian government tried to interfere with the 2016 presidential election, so Donald Trump won).\u00a0<\/p>\n

The social media-based\u00a0disinformation campaigns<\/a>\u00a0initiated by America\u2019s enemies\u00a0during the ongoing Trump era<\/a>\u00a0seem to be as\u00a0ineffective<\/a>\u00a0as the failed social media-based\u00a0information campaigns<\/a>\u00a0launched by America during the Global War on Terror.\u00a0 <\/strong>Given how\u00a0disproportionate<\/a>\u00a0the elite\u2019s\u00a0highly publicized panic<\/a>\u00a0over\u00a0disinformation<\/a>\u00a0is to the\u00a0actual threat<\/a>\u00a0from\u00a0disinformation<\/a>, the public has every right to question whether our leadership is conjuring up\u00a0sham crises<\/a>\u00a0to exert tighter control over a nation that has grown\u00a0largely<\/a>\u00a0unimpressed<\/a>\u00a0by even the\u00a0shiniest<\/a>\u00a0of\u00a0shiny<\/a>\u00a0credentials<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Although the stage has been set for a\u00a0complete collapse<\/a>\u00a0of\u00a0expert rule<\/a>, it will be difficult for the current crop of experts to save themselves from\u2014of all things\u2014themselves.\u00a0 The traditional authority system is almost uniquely unfit to deal with the very public failure of conventional models.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The incentive structure of America\u2019s credential-granting institutions is out of whack.\u00a0<\/strong> Expert careers are advanced by appealing to recognized authorities and representatives of\u00a0wealthy benefactors<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0or\u00a0powerful state actors<\/a>\u00a0in a\u00a0more-or-less closed system<\/a>, which the\u00a0establishment<\/a>\u00a0zealously<\/a>\u00a0protects<\/a>\u00a0from\u00a0outside<\/a>\u00a0interference<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Freedom from open competition allows diplomas and job titles to trump the\u00a0substance<\/a>\u00a0of arguments and the\u00a0abilities<\/a>\u00a0of individuals in the cloistered world of experts.\u00a0 Authorities can take the\u00a0ostrich defense<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0declare victory<\/a>\u00a0when faced with a threat to their position, so experts often\u00a0decry dissent<\/a>\u00a0while studiously\u00a0avoiding<\/a>\u00a0anything resembling critical engagement with critiques of their work advanced by deplorables or members of the great unwashed.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

The need to appeal to recognized authorities stifles innovation.\u00a0 Up-and-comers are best advised to avoid heterodox approaches, which are liable to offend a patron, and to adopt whatever orthodox approach happens to be favored by their most powerful backer, regardless of the merit of that approach.\u00a0 Established experts can use the\u00a0failed experiment that is peer review<\/a>\u00a0to\u00a0prop up<\/a>\u00a0their favorite\u00a0disproved<\/a>\u00a0theory, to advance a fashionable\u00a0narrative<\/a>, or to snuff out groundbreaking work capable of challenging the orthodoxies upon which their reputations rest. \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

The\u00a0authority system<\/a>\u00a0even\u00a0incents<\/a>\u00a0experts to\u00a0exaggerate<\/a>.\u00a0 To draw attention in crowded fields or obtain grant money from activist sources,\u00a0specialists<\/a>\u00a0commonly conflate advocacy with analysis, make overly dire predictions, then demand radical measures to avert the impending crises.\u00a0 And very rarely are experts punished for\u00a0getting things wrong<\/a>.\u00a0 It is therefore\u00a0reasonable<\/a>\u00a0for\u00a0specialists<\/a>\u00a0to stake out the most\u00a0aggressive<\/a>\u00a0position possible, rather than the most\u00a0accurate<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0defensible<\/a>\u00a0one.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

The expert system has broken down and requires structural reform.\u00a0 <\/strong>For example, it is as if academia\u2014the crown jewel of the authority system\u2014were designed to be as unfair and inefficient as possible.<\/p>\n

Despite our\u00a0knowledge<\/a>\u00a0that the \u201cNext Big Thing<\/a>\u201d tends to be hit upon by someone who is young or new to a discipline and often languishes until the then-dominant cohort of scholars loses control over the field, the tenure system concentrates power and authority in exactly the wrong hands\u2014those of established professors.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

The deference afforded to tenured faculty within the American academy not only makes our colleges and universities incredibly hostile environments for truly innovative ideas, but also creates ideal conditions for\u00a0alpha-sycophants<\/a>\u00a0valiant enough to\u00a0kowtow<\/a>\u00a0their way\u00a0to the top<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Protecting academic authorities from the consequences of their actions over-incents \u201cbrave<\/a>\u00a0stands<\/a>\u201d (by rendering them bravery-free) and allows\u00a0indefensible arguments<\/a>\u00a0to\u00a0overrun the academy<\/a>\u00a0and occasionally\u00a0leak into the wider world<\/a>\u2014often to the\u00a0detriment<\/a>\u00a0of the very non-elites whom the scholarly elite\u00a0purports<\/a>\u00a0to\u00a0represent<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

In short,\u00a0despite<\/a>\u00a0all<\/a>\u00a0the\u00a0exhortations<\/a>\u00a0by the\u00a0Spencerians<\/a>\u00a0in the\u00a0mainstream<\/a>\u00a0media<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0other<\/a>\u00a0establishment<\/a>\u00a0outlets<\/a>\u00a0about the\u00a0need<\/a>\u00a0for\u00a0academics<\/a>\u00a0to\u00a0remain<\/a>\u00a0a\u00a0self-regulating profession<\/a>, the greatest threats to the advance of learning and to academic freedom come from within the academy and are, at minimum, exacerbated by a system that permits faculty self-governance.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s high time for a round of\u00a0creative destruction<\/a>.\u00a0 <\/strong>The non-experts who oversee or fund America\u2019s colleges and universities should\u00a0consider<\/a>\u00a0doing away<\/a>\u00a0with tenure<\/a>\u00a0and exposing academics to the\u00a0crucible of competition<\/a>. \u00a0After all, pretty much everyone outside the Ivory Tower realizes that the fairest and most efficient way to deal with the\u00a0replication<\/a>\u00a0crisis<\/a>\u00a0in the\u00a0social sciences<\/a>\u00a0is an employment crisis among\u00a0social scientists<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Tyler Durden<\/a><\/span>
\nMon, 09\/16\/2024 – 22:35<\/span><\/p>\n

\u200bhttps:\/\/www.zerohedge.com\/political\/experts-gone-wild<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Experts Gone Wild Authored by Mike Scanlon via RealClearDefense.com, An ability to win\u00a0hearts and minds\u00a0has long been seen by America\u2019s leadership as essential to domestic…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":1490314,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1490313","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1490313","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1490313"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1490313\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1490314"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1490313"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1490313"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1490313"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}