Listen to the experts

Listen to the experts. That's not a bad idea, but let's look at what this really means. It's not the same as listening to media personalities telling us their portrayal of what the experts have to say. It's not the same as listening to a single expert. It's not the same as listening to experts on a single subject. It's also not the same as turning to experts to dictate what you think and what you do.

If you know who to listen to, experts can really help you make informed decisions. That's absolutely not how most Americans viewed expertise during the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, we elevated a very small set of experts to an authoritarian role. They told us how to live, and most of us obliged.

Most Americans who praised themselves for listening to the experts didn't actually listen to the experts. Instead, they listened to corrupt media sources and politicians providing an intentionally skewed perspective of what the experts had to say. A common tactic for skewing the narrative is to portray the entirety of the pandemic as just the disease. They generally neglected relevant expert voices regarding such things as mental health and the economy.

Another tactic is to vet experts based on the messaging desired. The media turned to Anthony Fauci to lead. Instead of finding additional voices based on backgrounds, they looked for experts that would support the messaging.

Out of all the those who talk about listening to experts, how many actually sought information from the experts themselves? How many even visited the websites for the CDC or WHO?

I visited these websites. Unfortunately, they weren't set up very well to track how things changed. As someone who hates rereading material to find these changes, these weren't as valuable as I had hoped. I honestly wasn't as well informed as I could have been.

One thing that I noticed on both websites is that they brought up mental health. One suggestion to help with mental health was to turn off the news. How many news agencies mentioned that?

In many ways, these websites were inadequate, which means that we were essentially dependent on the corrupt media to fill in the gaps. Since I don't trust our media, I know that there are a lot of gaps in my understanding that I could not fill.

Let's also not misportray what it means to listen to experts. The experts were defensive of the vaccine, so people who listened to the experts were more likely to get the vaccine. Getting the vaccine, however, is not the same as listening to the experts. Similarly mandating masks and vaccines is not the same as listening to the experts. Choices, policies, and actions can be influenced by experts, but it's wrong to refer to any of these things as listening to experts.

Things get even worse when it comes to opinions. You have a right to your own opinion. You can listen to the experts and still believe that the government should not resort to forceful measures. You have a right to be concerned about the implications of these actions on mental health. You even have a right to believe that freedom is more important than maximizing the amount of time for everybody to have a pulse. Personally, I'm anti-mandate and pro-freedom. This doesn't mean that I'm hostile to what experts have to say.