Do You Accept Expert Opinion Without Question?
Understanding how conclusions are reached in the realm of "expert opinion" is valuable well beyond the sphere of such controversial topics as climate change. We have noted the same process in the accepted opinion of medical advice, the proper role of government, how the economy should be managed, and so on.
Time after time, you will come to realize there is a long chain of custody of the information we end up consuming. All along that chain, there are multiple examples of logic leaks due to personal capacity to understand subject matter, ideological bias, employment pressures, politically acceptable positions, and a myriad of other factors.
One of the greatest mistakes we make is holding the naive assumption that experts always should be followed in their guidance, because of their superior grasp of a subject. It may be their training is much more formal than ours, but that may be offset by counterweights that tip the scales away from truth and toward some goal seeking outcome.
Decentralization is a critical survival technique in knowledge as well as in personal preparations. Turn off the TV, mothball the BBQ cooker this weekend, and start doing your own research on everything. The internet has never-before-available knowledge the common man or woman may use to get a much better view from the high ground of information. Don't be credulous by default about expert opinion, buying without scrutiny what huge organizations and social constructs are selling to benefit themselves.