Most of us know that human-made climate change is real. But how do we know? We’re not out there, measuring ice caps or CO2 levels; most of us don’t even read the published results of such studies. No, we have them summarized for us by the media. We don’t work for the knowledge.
This goes beyond climate change. Most of us don’t lead scholarly lives. We don’t go around testing theories, taking measurements, or analyzing historical documents. We trust that experts do that for us. We read their books and watch their documentaries, so we don’t have to dirty our hands with primary sources.
Intellectually, we’re like civilians – capable in many ways, but dependent on the groundwork done by others. Soldiers risk their lives so we don’t have to. Scientists and scholars devote their lives to rigorous study, so we don’t have to.
It’s fine to be a civilian. We’re no less clever, virtuous, or important than soldiers and scientists. But we shouldn’t be so quick to call each other brainwashed or fact-resistant. Climate deniers, anti-vaxxers, Putin sympathizers, most of them are intellectual civilians just like us. We haven’t necessarily worked harder for our information than they have. We just listen to different sources.
This isn’t an argument for relativism, for all sources aren’t equal, and civilians can scrutinize and discriminate between them. It’s merely an argument for intellectual humility.