The Dangers of Reliance on Authority During COVID

I've thought that the reliance on authority during COVID has actually been pretty dangerous. The media tried to indiscriminately curb voices that were opposing the CDC despite the CDC clearly saying wrong things. And what is irritating to me and I still don't understand is the mentality that has emerged in the US to defer to people that know less than you do if they are formally above you in the hierarchy. But this also means that 60% of the population will end up with the wrong opinion because they're not very good at understanding what's going on.