The Wall St. Journal published an article about experts that makes some good points relevant to our SITH and M2C scholars at Scripture Central, the Interpreter, etc.
Historians who promote SITH (the stone-in-the-hat narrative) apply subjective, inconsistent analysis of historical sources to conclude that Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery misled everyone about the translation of the Book of Mormon.
Self-proclaimed Book of Mormon scholars, particularly those at Scripture Central, who promote M2C (the Mesoamerican/two-Cumorahs theory) apply subjective, inconsistent analysis of the text and extrinsic evidence to confirm their biases that Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery misled everyone about the Hill Cumorah.
These LDS "experts" cite their credentials, but they ignore common sense as they reject and repudiate what Joseph and Oliver taught about the origin and setting of the Book of Mormon.
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| M2C scholars confirming their biases |
The WSJ article:
Excerpt:
The vice-presidential debate contained a fascinating exchange in which the moderators cited an analysis from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, which estimated that Donald Trump’s economic plan would increase the federal deficit by $5.8 trillion. JD Vance responded by pointing out that the experts had been wrong about many things, economic predictions not least.
The moderators’ invocation of Wharton’s reputation was the latest example of politically motivated attempts to shut down debate by citing expertise. Mr. Vance was right that these efforts ultimately embarrass experts and undermine the public’s faith in science. In his words, “They have Ph.D.s, but they don’t have common sense and they don’t have wisdom.”
Economic experts have been wrong about many critical policies. Mr. Vance discussed the most disastrous error of all, the near-universal consensus that trade with China would benefit American prosperity and security. Once the damage was done and communities across the heartland lay ravaged, economists got around to writing about “the China shock” and “deaths of despair.” In economic policy as in investing, there’s scant difference between being late to understand and being completely wrong.
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Other fields have their share of embarrassments too. Diplomatic experts told us that moving the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem would start a war. Public-health experts insisted we wear masks and stand 6 feet apart on the beach. Teachers unions assured us that kids would learn as well at home on computers as in the classroom. And the notion that Covid-19 might have originated in a laboratory in Wuhan, China, was supposedly an idea so dangerous that only racists would entertain it.
Independent thinking is critical to democracy. Experts may have years of schooling, but they can be prone to motivated reasoning. What we need from the expert class is more humility. They know their analyses are fraught with uncertainty, but they seldom acknowledge it to the public.
There is no solution for thinking things through yourself. And as Mr. Vance emphasized, common sense and wisdom are as important as expertise.
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