Expert opinions

In my first years of medical practice I discovered a very powerful entity; the cathode ray tube, otherwise known as the television. It had power much greater than my meager means of rational thought and fact based opinion. Some of my patients essentially told me that they trusted Dan Rather, who at that time was a relatively trustworthy news anchor for CBS, more than me . Of course he has subsequently exposed himself as fraudulent and yet the serial masquerade continues. Indeed however when I challenged a talking head statement regarding a medical condition and treatment my patient responded "Dan Rather wouldn't lie". I realized at that time the force of technology and opinion makers. Most relationships require time to establish trust and the television was part of one's family. The television also gave instant credibility to those on the camera. With its mesmerizing effect a generation of Americans learned to trust the television anchors, Walter Cronkite, Ted Koppel and other "voices of truth". We now find ourselves in a battle with technology and more importantly those who sit at the controls of technology. Forces beyond our wildest dreams control the content of what we consume as seekers of information. Indeed information is literally fed to us through our modern day transmitters. The cellphone has provided us with immense power and the ability to access information which in times past required a visit to an expert. But the vast majority of humans do not have the time or desire to distill what information is relevant and more importantly useful to our daily existence. In fact as I'm typing this note Google is attempting to "help" me by suggesting words I might use. This is of course viewed by most as assistance towards our common goal. But are our goals so common any longer? Imagine how a sinister entity with desires to control a population might use technology to expose us to content seemingly beneficial to us but ultimately controlling us instead. Of course like any good charlatan's work the gambit starts off as appealing and rewarding like the great feeling of someone, or many, affirming your wit and entertainment capacity. Soon however one becomes captured. It is quite subtle and one often sees signs along the way which might objectively cause us concern. But those concerns seem to take a back seat to the wonderful feelings of affirmation. In an objective moment one might discover that most of our important decisions are made on an emotional rather than factual basis. This I've learned inductively over the years while practicing medicine. Emotions trump rationality. My most recent experience of this "group think" process became apparent to me as I served as physician in charge of Heidelberg student athletes during the initial days of the Covid pandemic. I was quite surprised by the lack of intellectual curiosity regarding an evolving novel scientific and medical phenomenon. Furthermore the willingness to follow lockstep with the "experts" was astounding. A force which was able to convince a group of people who had virtually no risk to agree to immensely draconian restrictions. I realized then that a force much more powerful than even television anchors was causing our youth to be led to conclusions which were clearly not thought out logically. Indeed a force so powerful it controlled what I formerly considered the most rebellious of those in our society. The adolescent! My suggestion to those with any remaining desire to search for truth is to engage in the study of logic and search for primary sources of information as often as possible. Assuming your parents educated you and you have what we once called common sense, trust your instincts. Beware of those seeking consensus as the probability that as we approach total consensus the likelihood that everyone is wrong reaches a near certainty. We know this because we are humans and though we believe we can create a singularity which can surpass all understanding there remains only one absolute authority and we ultimately answer only to Him.