Experts are the new priests, so says Discovery Institute's Egnor and David T

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Permalink Reply by Tarquin St John Sh'gn'sty on June 20, 2009 at 6:41am

@Jason; the guy's a drongo, lacking the wit to even grasp the meaning of the term;"atheism",mistaking it for an ideology or philosophical position..

A bit disappointing; I thought the argument was going to be about the process of professionalisation,and the use of argument from authority,so beloved of apologists.

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Permalink Reply by Jason B on June 20, 2009 at 8:02am

I suppose it is about the process of professionalisation ultimately. The analogies used in the argument, though, illustrate your point- they think of atheism as an ideology or philospohical position.

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Permalink Reply by Sentient Biped on June 20, 2009 at 12:45pm

"Experts are the new priests" - NOT! When was the last time that you saw "experts" protecting their ilk after being outed for sexually abusing children? Over and over and over again.

Let the preists manipulate the ignorant with their ritualistic mumbo jumbo while hypocritically demonizing anyone who wont follow their commandments. When push comes to shove, ALMOST everyone knows that prayer doesn't heal, and they go to medical care providers to treat their illnesses. People just don't want to admit that the priests are not relevant.

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Permalink Reply by vandrerol on June 20, 2009 at 6:29pm

Actually, I think he's got a point about 'experts' being the new priests. Please, read me out before you start foaming at the mouth.

Firstly, the guy's a douche and he really has no idea what he's saying.
Secondly, I consider myself a science fanboy and I'm personally offended when it's compared to religion.

But, we have to recognize that, in the ears of the un-skeptical masses, the phrase 'because god says so' has become 'because the experts say so'. 'The bible says that' has become 'studies show that'.
And this is all perfectly OK. What isn't ok is the fact that there are people who would see scientist in the same unquestioning manner in which they see priests. To put it in other words, the same people who would have blindly followed the words of a medieval priest are the ones who now see scientists as the new priests. And this is bad for science, as questioning every study is essential for science to make any progress.

I guess this has to do with the commercialization of science, with every toothpaste brand waving around studies and saying 'three out of four experts agree...'. These people (the authors of these blog posts included) need to be educated in what science really is about. Using scientific-sounding facts to promote personal ideas or push products in the market is demeaning to it, and lowers it to bronze age mysticism. I've gone off-topic, but you get my point.

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Permalink Reply by Robert Tobin on June 20, 2009 at 7:47pm

Definition of an EXPERT:

X (ex) is the unknown number.
Spurt (pert) is a drip under pressure.

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Permalink Reply by Jason B on June 21, 2009 at 12:21am

OK no mouth foaming here. In fact, I even conceded to David that even today there is a big chunk of the population that does use "experts" in this manner. (Oprah anyone?)

And you are also right about commercials. Logical fallacies are often used to promote products. Argument from Authority is perhaps the most often used.

My issue really lies with how Discovery Institute takes this point and applies it to real science. In essence, they are accusing scientists of simply replacing the True God with some feeble substitute, because gosh darn it, we all have to believe in SOMETHING.

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