Epistemic Authoritarianism - A Risk to Human Health

Demagogues persuaded people that political prudence meant shedding traditional moral constraints, taking advantage of others before they pull one over on you. The upshot was a drawn out war that ended in disaster for athenians and the rest of greece. All this suggests that some sort of scepticism about the claims of self styled noahs is good for both epistemic and political health. When people glean information and form judgments by deferring to authority, their own faculties of thinking and judging remain stunted. They become, to use a familiar figure of speech, sheep. And ironically, among those who are educated in this way are often the most deferential to authority and fiercely protective of