The latest dividing line between the parties: Trusting expertise

[LetMyPeopleVote]

A debate exchange between JD Vance and Tim Walz was emblematic of a larger point: Democrats and Republicans are divided over whether to trust expertise.

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A memorable debate exchange between JD Vance and Tim Walz was emblematic of a larger point:

Democrats and Republicans are divided over, among other things, whether to trust expertise.

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/latest-dividing-line-parties-trusting-expertise-rcna173828

In April 2013, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan offered some insights into his assumptions about public attitudes. “You know what Americans can’t stand?” the Ohio Republican asked rhetorically. “You know what they can’t stand about this town? So-called experts.”......

This came to mind watching the vice presidential debate, as Republican Sen. JD Vance and Democratic Gov. Tim Walz sparred over whether to “trust the experts” on the economy. NBC News flagged a memorable quote from the Minnesotan.

“Economists, don’t be trusted. Science can’t be trusted. National security folks can’t be trusted,” Walz said, mocking Trump and Vance, before adding: “Look, if you’re going to be president, you don’t have all the answers. Donald Trump believes he does. My pro tip of the day is this: If you need heart surgery, listen to the people at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, not Donald Trump. And the same thing goes with [economic policy].”

The day after the debate, the Ohio senator told a Michigan audience that he was “annoyed” by Walz’s comments, adding: “I don’t think economists know what the hell they’re talking about.”

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....Prominent Republican voices have come down on one side, telling the public not to trust public health officials. Or climate scientists. Or economists. Or historians. Or election officials. Or law enforcement officials who compile crime statistics.

In 2024, the only truths Americans should accept are the words of Donald Trump and the Republican Party — unless they change their minds about what’s true, at which point Americans have a responsibility to accept the revised truths.

This isn’t altogether new, though it was striking to see the divide play out on a debate stage, for tens of millions of viewers to see.

[lindysalsagal]

1. "Just 66 percent of millennials firmly believe that the Earth is round," read the summary from the pollster YouGov.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/observations/do-people-really-think-earth-might-be-flat/

“Just 66 percent of millennials firmly believe that the Earth is round,” read the summary from the pollster YouGov. Kids today, right? But it’s not only curmudgeons eager to complain about the younger generation who ought to find the survey of interest. For despite the recent prominence of flat-earthery among musicians and athletes, YouGov’s survey seems to have been the first systematic attempt to assess the American population’s views on the shape of the Earth.

Moreover, the results raised a number of compelling questions that deserve attention. For example, why is the scientifically established view on the shape of the Earth less popular among younger respondents (according to YouGov) when the scientifically established view on the history of life and on the cause of global warming have been, in poll after poll, more popular among younger respondents?

Healthy skepticism is a good thing, but reckless obstinance in the face of provable facts is ruining us.