Editor:
Re: Dealing with false balance and the death of expertise, Sept. 16.
I totally agree with Paul Henderson’s opinion column concerning “the death of expertise.”
Call it what you want, Sturgeon’s Law or Dunning-Kruger effect, but science denial and the use of pseudo-science to force a point of view has even infiltrated our government institutions.
With respect to our local governance, let me offer just two examples to illustrate my point. Serious decisions have been based upon totally misleading and inaccurate results from foolish online public surveys that have no basis in science.
Staff reports containing sound recommendations have been rejected by our elected officials who claim to have a grasp of science and technology superior to the professional expertise of their in-house advisors.
When our governing “leaders” and their partisan supporters join the chattering classes who already know everything and have no time for nuance, we are in deeper trouble than we realize.
Ron Kistritz, White Rock
