Donald Robertson

I mean, I can tell you over the years I've, I've, I'm friends with and know many, uh, well-respected academics, historians, classicists, philosophers, um, you know, and I guess my attitude has changed a little bit from my experience over time. Um,

I mean, I can tell you over the years I've, I've, I'm friends with and know many, uh, well-respected academics, historians, classicists, philosophers, um, you know, and I guess my attitude has changed a little bit from my experience over time. Um,

um sometimes there are people that are incredibly highly qualified in the subject and say stuff that's bonkers like that's you know the other experts in the field just think they've lost their mind like you know that again they're making mistakes that a first year student would fail a assignment for for doing right um I mean, it's weird when you see that, but it happens a lot.

um sometimes there are people that are incredibly highly qualified in the subject and say stuff that's bonkers like that's you know the other experts in the field just think they've lost their mind like you know that again they're making mistakes that a first year student would fail a assignment for for doing right um I mean, it's weird when you see that, but it happens a lot.

um sometimes there are people that are incredibly highly qualified in the subject and say stuff that's bonkers like that's you know the other experts in the field just think they've lost their mind like you know that again they're making mistakes that a first year student would fail a assignment for for doing right um I mean, it's weird when you see that, but it happens a lot.

Like, you get books by people that are professors of philosophy or psychology or whatever, and you think a first-year undergraduate student would get lambasted for saying this stuff. It's crazy. But so, you know, they're not... The most highly credentialed people are often not experts. And there's... There's also a well-known problem with expertise.

Like, you get books by people that are professors of philosophy or psychology or whatever, and you think a first-year undergraduate student would get lambasted for saying this stuff. It's crazy. But so, you know, they're not... The most highly credentialed people are often not experts. And there's... There's also a well-known problem with expertise.

Like, you get books by people that are professors of philosophy or psychology or whatever, and you think a first-year undergraduate student would get lambasted for saying this stuff. It's crazy. But so, you know, they're not... The most highly credentialed people are often not experts. And there's... There's also a well-known problem with expertise.

There's actually statistical research that shows that narrative reviews of medical research that are done by experts in a particular field tend to be unreliable. So normally you'd think this guy's like one of the most experienced heart surgeons in the world. Like, so he's written an article reviewing all the research. It should be authoritative because he really knows what he's talking about.

There's actually statistical research that shows that narrative reviews of medical research that are done by experts in a particular field tend to be unreliable. So normally you'd think this guy's like one of the most experienced heart surgeons in the world. Like, so he's written an article reviewing all the research. It should be authoritative because he really knows what he's talking about.

There's actually statistical research that shows that narrative reviews of medical research that are done by experts in a particular field tend to be unreliable. So normally you'd think this guy's like one of the most experienced heart surgeons in the world. Like, so he's written an article reviewing all the research. It should be authoritative because he really knows what he's talking about.

But experts are often biased and they're particularly prone to committing the cherry picking fallacy. So they just pick out studies that support their pet theory. Whereas professional statisticians that don't have any skin in the game will just look at what all of the research says and be really kind of cast a cold eye over it.

But experts are often biased and they're particularly prone to committing the cherry picking fallacy. So they just pick out studies that support their pet theory. Whereas professional statisticians that don't have any skin in the game will just look at what all of the research says and be really kind of cast a cold eye over it.

But experts are often biased and they're particularly prone to committing the cherry picking fallacy. So they just pick out studies that support their pet theory. Whereas professional statisticians that don't have any skin in the game will just look at what all of the research says and be really kind of cast a cold eye over it.

you know, I, and they'll say, no, this is what the research actually shows. This guy is just telling you what half of the research says, you know, because it supports his theory and experts in a field, or if you want to put it another way, people that are really invested in certain theories that have been doing it for a long time can be biased. Right.

you know, I, and they'll say, no, this is what the research actually shows. This guy is just telling you what half of the research says, you know, because it supports his theory and experts in a field, or if you want to put it another way, people that are really invested in certain theories that have been doing it for a long time can be biased. Right.

you know, I, and they'll say, no, this is what the research actually shows. This guy is just telling you what half of the research says, you know, because it supports his theory and experts in a field, or if you want to put it another way, people that are really invested in certain theories that have been doing it for a long time can be biased. Right.

And so their, their version of things can be quite distorted, but, um,

And so their, their version of things can be quite distorted, but, um,

And so their, their version of things can be quite distorted, but, um,