Tension between diversity and elite consensus in truth testing

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The tension exists between the call for diversity and the reliance on elite consensus in the liberal epistemic order. Elite consensus is crucial for truth testing and fallibleism to operate intergenerationally, with the need for institutions and norms to support this. Non-elites need to trust the products of these institutions, even though they acknowledge that error correction within specialized fields like physics will come from qualified individuals. The truth is viewed as a direction, not a destination, requiring navigation rather than reaching a final point.

Sam Harris speaks with Jonathan Rauch and Josh Szeps about the foundations of knowledge and the fragmentation of society. They discuss the state of the mainstream media, diversity of viewpoints, the "reality-based" community, what Covid did to our information landscape, the Overton window and the news value of controversial stories, the unique challenge of Trump and Trumpism, the dangers of a second Trump term, the problem of immigration and controlling the southern border of the U.S., and other topics.

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