by There is a certain sort of bias that applies to people on both the right and left sides of the political spectrum. Let’s call it the Fallacy of the Competent and Well-Intentioned Expert.
For lefties, there is this general trust that often applies to a certain class of people, usually journalists, public school teachers, and health care professionals. The bias usually assumes that these groups of people have the capacity to solve wide and deep problems, but for whatever reason, there is a lack of public or political commitment. The only reason why everyone in America isn’t a genius-level polymath is because some short-sighted group of voters are unwilling to spend enough on education. Basically, we just haven’t tried hard enough, as a society.
On the other hand, right-wingers have a similar bias, but it usually applies to different groups of people: law enforcement, military, engineers, and various sheep-dog types. The underlying assumption is that there is some cabal of White Hats looking out for you. And, in a pinch, if the planet were about to be destroyed by an incoming asteroid, that they’d all be able to scramble in short order, work together, and solve the problem with precision and finesse. The examples I give could be countless, but generally, there is some group of protectors in the shadows, whose sole purpose is to protect you.
Although the bias in both cases applies to different sorts of people and different situations, both ends of the political spectrum probably assign too much credit to their own particular group of would-be heroes, and generally extend good faith to these groups and their motivations, without question. After all, given what we’ve witnessed with the fiasco that is the US government’s covid response, I have to ask a few questions.
Lefties: why does the vaccine not actually work? What happened to that “this vaccine means you will not get the virus.” How is that working out?
Righties: where are your sheepdogs now that you’ve been fired from your job for not taking the vaccine? How’s the tactical camo gear working out for you?
I have to admit, I am similarly afflicted by this bias and fallacy.
By now we all know that both body composition (BMI) and age greatly affect covid infection outcomes. There isn’t much we can do about age, but we can all probably stop guzzling corn syrup and maybe go for a walk once in a while. This focus on health would also likely have spill-over effects in other areas in one’s life. And month after month passes, and without fail, our medical and health authorities show no interest in telling the American public that maybe being morbidly obese, as a past-time, isn’t such a great thing.
So, in my mind, there should be some Manhattan Project dedicated to getting people to move more and make better food choices. And what time is better than now?
But if you accept that maybe we can all agree that Americans are fundamentally unhealthy, then the question automatically becomes: move how?
Walking?
Running?
CrossFit?
Eating better: but what way of eating is better?
Calorie restriction?
Cutting carbs?
Going vegetarian?
Immediately, the discussion, like everything else, becomes tribal warfare, even if we all agree on the premise.
In reality, if the federal government and their partners in academia, the media, and pharma all put their heads together, given everything we’ve seen to date, there’d be a solution they’d all settle on where everyone would be compelled to eat ice cream and smoke cigarettes for breakfast every day. And if you prefer one flavor of ice cream over another, you’d likely put your employment at risk. The same sort of incentives and forces that created Common Core Standards would likely end up creating fitness and exercise standards. And, if we’re being honest, the government is good at forcing compliance and meting out punishments, but pretty much nothing else. You’ll pay your taxes, whether you like it or not, but don’t look too closely at the results of what they are doing with the money.
And we’d all learn again, the well-intentioned expert working in good faith to protect you doesn’t really exist.
So, yeah. Although I’m pretty certain there is no cabal looking out for me within the depths of corporate marketing or the permanent government, it is easy to subscribe to the fallacy described here.
In my head, I know no one is looking out for me, but my heart still holds hope. But, for now, for this issue, please do nothing at all.
