Not accepting answers simply on authority is good. That’s one of the foundational ideas of science. But if scientists demonstrate an understanding that allows them to produce stuff that they otherwise wouldn’t be able to (and quantum theory definitely delivers on this count,) it’s worth taking the likelihood that they know what they’re talking about very seriously.
Some scientific subjects are difficult to understand, and take a lot of time and effort to build up to.
To quote from one of Eliezer’s other posts
Modern science is built on discoveries, built on discoveries, built on discoveries, and so on, all the way back to people like Archimedes, who discovered facts like why boats float, that can make sense even if you don’t know about other discoveries. A good place to start traveling that road is at the beginning.
Don’t be embarrassed to read elementary science textbooks, either. If you want to pretend to be sophisticated, go find a play to sneer at. If you just want to have fun, remember that simplicity is at the core of scientific beauty.
And thinking you can jump right into the frontier, when you haven’t learned the settled science, is like…
…like trying to climb only the top half of Mount Everest (which is the only part that interests you) by standing at the base of the mountain, bending your knees, and jumping really hard (so you can pass over the boring parts).
Don’t be so hasty to try and jump into the advanced stuff. It’s built on lots and lots of developments, and if you don’t take the time to understand those, it’s necessarily going to seem confusing, whether or not the people working on it really know what they’re talking about.
Not accepting answers simply on authority is good. That’s one of the foundational ideas of science. But if scientists demonstrate an understanding that allows them to produce stuff that they otherwise wouldn’t be able to (and quantum theory definitely delivers on this count,) it’s worth taking the likelihood that they know what they’re talking about very seriously.
Some scientific subjects are difficult to understand, and take a lot of time and effort to build up to.
To quote from one of Eliezer’s other posts
Don’t be so hasty to try and jump into the advanced stuff. It’s built on lots and lots of developments, and if you don’t take the time to understand those, it’s necessarily going to seem confusing, whether or not the people working on it really know what they’re talking about.