I'm not a politician, theoretical physicist, astronomer, etc. I do not claim to be an expert on anything at all really. I know some things, but a majority of what I know is what people have told me. Whether those things are true or not, I can't really know for sure because I did not take the time to do the research. So, how do people know what they are told is true?
A big part of it has to do with who you trust. For example, if Richard Dawkins announced that he has done research in the evolution of humans and states that they are very close descendants of some ancient primate species, I would believe him because he is an expert in that particular field. Also, the fact that many other scientists have come to the same conclusion. Although, I don't particularly believe him on the basis of him being popular and showing up on TV occasionally. The point is that people with power are the people we trust and this should not be the way we base trust.
Now, for a negative example, let's say Glenn Beck makes an announcement that humans are not descendants of primates but actually created by god a few thousand years ago. I would not believe him for a number of reasons. He is not an expert in this field. He has no evidence to show. He does not have experts coming to the same conclusion. So why do people end up believing in him? He's on TV. Therefore, he has power/popularity.
Typically people of greater power than you or people that have a following are the people that are trusted (i.e. the president, radio hosts, your parents). Even if these people have done no research at all, they are trusted because of their greater power over you. You think of yourself as inferior and less knowledgeable compared to these people.
This is, what I believe, one of the greatest weaknesses that mankind possesses. We do not have the ability to learn everything individually. So, we must divide up the work and trust that those people doing a certain thing are doing it truthfully. Doctors go through school and do the work in order to help people medically. IT professionals study computers and programming languages in order to use and help people use computers, etc. In some cases, however, people are influenced to believe things that are not true because they have been told by a so called "expert" in a particular field that it is true, or in the Glenn Beck case, we might already have a positive opinion of the individual and might thus believe a majority of what he says. We cannot individually do all the research ourselves, so we must trust them.
However, what we can do is learn how to trust and who to trust.
They should earn our trust if:
If someone has done valid research into something.
If someone's research complies with someone else's similar conclusions.
If someone has proved themselves in the past in the same field of work.
They should not earn our trust if:
If someone has a large following of people.
If someone speaks fluently and with good vocabulary.
If someone shows off their power.
If someone is influential.
If someone makes a claim in a field of work they have not previously researched.
These are all just things to understand when someone tries to tell you some "truth" they think they have found. You don't have to believe me because, like I said, I'm no expert but I have done a bit of thinking in the matter and have read a few things related to this. So, believe me if you want to, but really it's up to you whether you want to trust me or not...perhaps, then proving my point.
