Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Ignorance does NOT trump expertise

Most people feel it is wise to never offer an opinion on a subject in which you personally have no experience.  In health care matters, one does not ask the opinion of a cashier; in matters of law enforcement, one asks a lawyer or police officer, not the paper boy.  We understand that when we know nothing about a certain subject, we cannot offer an expert opinion.

Would you go up to a brain surgeon, as a layman, and tell him I don't think your theory on neural ganglia is correct?  I have never spent an hour studying neural networks, but I feel that I am sufficiently educated on the subject to offer my negative opinion.

Or would you say to a rocket scientist, that he/she really shouldn't have to account for the gravitational field of the sun when sending a rocket to the moon, because they are on the opposite sides of the planet?  Do you feel that your opinion is valuable?

Or would you point out to a concert pianist that they really don't need to worry about rhythm or cadence, because that is the job of the conductor or percussionist.

Or would you walk into a gun shop and tell the gunsmith that is shouldn't be necessary to clean a weapon after firing a few hundred rounds through it, even though you have never shot, nor even owned a firearm?

And yet....

Atheist and agnostics feel completely comfortable in their ignorance of religion to claim that there is no God, and to claim they understand the Bible; even though they have never read a single word it contains nor spent any time becoming an expert in Biblical Studies.

Why do you feel it is perfectly acceptable to impinge your ignorance of the spiritual realm to someone who has spent decades studying the Bible, and can explain to you nuances of spirituality that you have never experienced?

Why is it perfectly acceptable for you to judge an expert in an area from a position of complete ignorance of the subject, simply because it is in the area of spirituality? Why is it that you think that, because you know absolutely nothing about the Bible, you can impugn an expert.

How many decades have you spent reading the written Word? How many years have you spent doing comparative studies between multiple translations and outside literature? How many hours have you spent searching for the nuances between passages?  When did you become a Biblical Scholar? What I see is an ignorant Neophyte and your opinion on the value of the Scriptures is less than worthless.

Why do you feel it is perfectly okay to tell people that the Bible may contain the truth, when you have never read a single word in the Bible, and have no idea what truth it may contain? I find it simply amazing that you feel your utter lack of research qualifies you to dispute the validity of a subject you have spent no time contemplating.

Why do you think that ignorance trumps expertise?

Try that line of reasoning with any other area of study, and see how far you get.

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