Sextus Empiricus: Open-Mind Therapy
How uncertainty may be its own cure
“I think the people of this country have had enough of experts.”
So said a British government minister on the eve of Brexit. The minister in question was an architect of the so-far-so-bad act of self-harm that the British public brought on itself, despite warnings from experts.
The break with Europe was the long-fought-for victory for the so-called “Euroskeptics”. This formerly fringe coalition of nationalists and libertarians gained mainstream traction as Britain became mired in economic and political crises from 2008 onwards.
We’re now at peak skepticism it seems. It leaves society pallid with the sickness of wilful ignorance. A new breed of skepticism has been steeped in cynicism and given a hubris shot. You’ll find it on Twitter, talk radio, or in murky corners of Reddit and Facebook.
Questioning orthodoxy and authority is undoubtedly healthy, but rather than being more open-minded, the modern armchair skeptic grasps instead at fringe theories and comforting myths.
Our internet-fuelled skepticism is a generalised mistrust of expertise combined with a levelling-out of the value of information. One theory is seen as good as any other in our information-saturated world, and you can believe…
