Don’t read the comments—they can make you mistrust real experts -- If you claim you're a doctor online, people may trust you more than the CDC

exactly.

the main problem is that the vast majority of humanity is incapable of telling the difference between truth and bullshit, they believe things based on who told them, rather than on the information's actual merit. they trust others to fact check, they trust others to evaluate evidence, and very often that trust is misplaced.

and the way this affects humanity is horrifying. our species exists in a perpetual state of war between those who think and the huge number of "factions" that think for their followers. and "those who think" are losing, despite the fact that they're the driving force behind modern civilisation and technological advancement.

the non-thinkers will line up for days to buy a smartphone built by thinkers, but they have absolutely no recognition of the value and importance of the "thinking skills" which were neccesary for humanity to invent all the modern technology in the first place.

to be fair, even those with adequate "thinking skills" often dont apply them as thoroughly as they should.

of all the species on earth, we have the most powerful brains, and we're wasting them. we should not be surprised that our civilisation is a chaotic nightmare. we're wasting 90% of humanity's potential, and it is the biggest crisis we will ever face, it is the reason why our governments are crippled by "left vs right" conflicts, and utterly incapable of presenting ideas that could solve the problems that currently affect us.

"dont read this information" is one of the worst pieces of advice someone can give, it perpetuates the waste of humanity's intellectual potential. people who dont fact-check are practically giving up their decisionmaking responsibilities and placing all their trust in people who dont know how to fact-check either.

a human who cannot think is like a cheetah that cannot run, or an eagle that cannot fly.

/r/science Thread Link - arstechnica.com