The internet tells me that I am thinking of anti-intellectualism, but it isn’t that. I have recently experienced a couple of examples of ignorance in the face of expertise. Seeing individuals completely disregard others’ expertise, choosing to rely on their own opinions can be exhausting as well as enlightening.
There is a cognitive bias that pertains to the inclination of people with limited knowledge or skills in a particular domain to overestimate their abilities while underestimating the competence of experts. Those who know the least often presume they know the most. But that is different from deliberately ingnoring or forgetting that someone has vast experience beyond one’s own experience with them.
One factor of this bias is the erosion of trust in experts and institutions. This loss of trust can push individuals to reject expert advice entirely, even when it holds potential benefits in various scenarios. But to ignore someone’s life experience is a special kind of erosion of trust.
I have experienced this personally, in that many people seem to think I have been in the same professional role…forever, I guess. Which is so farfetched as to be humerous. Recently, I have witnessed this behavior towards other people. The pastor at my church, who has years of experience running churches, has been dismissed with “she just doesn’t understand” or “she can’t possibly know” by congregants who should know better.
I don’t know what to call this. It feels a little narcissistic but it isn’t just that. What would you call this?
Art of Information 