I’ve had this conversation a lot with family and extended family that are on different sides of the issue. It’s like arguing global warming. Almost no one arguing about is a real ass climatologist but everyone argues as if their 15 minutes of reading through the first google hit that strikes their fancy qualifies them to claim the science is on their side.
Really, for specialized knowledge like this, the real truth isn’t within reach of most people because relatively few people are true frontline experts who have firsthand knowledge. So we have to rely on trust in whatever expert we decide to believe.
When it’s uncontroversial and not politicized it’s a lot easier to trust the experts. It’s even more instinctive to recognize those experts and trust them. But when the subject is highly politicized and people see the issue as us vs them, you instinctively pick the “experts” who you feel better meshes with your worldview. Or at least you see the one side pushing something that clashes with your worldview as untrustworthy.
It doesn’t matter how smart you are. It’s really damn hard to figure out who is telling the truth sometimes. The experts aren’t above personal biases themselves. But if you can recognize where your biases are and look at the thing objectively you might be able to figure out enough facts to mead yourself to what is the most truth you can discover, short of becoming a frontline expert with access to all the information possible. But you have to listen to information from all sides.
