The Age of Experts
BROWNSTONE.ORG -- [ISMAILI DIGEST ED: Hazar Imam, 1987: "Professional standards and assumptions can provide a form of intolerance, pride and myopia as intractable as the rigidities of traditional societies."] ARTICLE: Once upon a time, a man could brandish his doubt in public with a certain degree of dignity and honor. Being unsure was a mark of an inquiring mind, open to fresh evidence and new horizons. But, in this modern era, there is little room for old fashioned doubt and skepticism. In this Age of Certainty, of 140-character zingers and bumper-sticker morality, silence isn't a sign of humility: silence is violence. So, to keep pace with the flood of subjects, the modern man turns to the "Expert Class" for blind guidance. And blind guidance is what he gets. Indeed, on the Grand Subjects, these lodestars of knowledge are rarely in doubt and as confident as they are myopic. The experts are ...
