[fountainofage]

I'm very inclined to believe, but I personally know a couple of medical doctors who are 100% into the theories. And I imagine lots of other people also know well-educated individuals with the same beliefs.

I don't know if education is enough. People seem to decide at some point what they believe, and then back all evidence into either it supports their beliefs, or the evidence is fake.

[dd36]

Doctors have a very narrow area of training.

[fountainofage]

Are you saying we need even more education than what doctors currently attain?

Or are you agreeing with my underlying point that education doesn't matter and won't help here?

[saghm]

I think GP is saying that we need _different_ education, not necessarily "more". It could be more if the new stuff was added in, or it could be the same amount if it replaces something else. The total amount of education isn't super relevant, and it's a bit misleading up claim that teaching anything other than what is already part of a medical school curriculum means you're requiring students to learn "more than a doctor".

For a more concrete example, I have never gone to graduate school; my education ended after finishing my undergrad. By any reasonable measure, I received "less" education than a doctor, who presumably completed an undergrad like me but also medical school afterwards. However, I almost certainly learned certain things that most doctors didn't in my computer science education, like how a compiler or operating system is written. If instead of those computer science courses I took courses dealing with media literacy and how to recognize bias, I still would have "less" education than a doctor.

[respondo2134]

...coupled with a wide path of respect and influence. It makes them powerful in both good and bad situations

[presentation]

I think the original commenter meant that at no point of your educational career do we teach things like distinguishing facts in the media - and while there is relation to learning about the scientific method as a doctor, it could be made clearer.

[fountainofage]

My point is that my experience has been that assholes are going to be assholes regardless of how much you educate them. We see this now where those with no education and very little wealth are out there saying "Trump isn't hurting the right people."

It doesn't matter the level of education someone has in that scenario - they've already decided on an "us vs them" mentality and will believe what they want to justify their actions.

There are very well-educated, well-informed, and critically-minded white supremacists - they use that knowledge and intelligence to further their racism. No amount of education will help them.

They've already decided they want to hurt other people, and just take all evidence and back it into either "supports my stance of hurting others" or "this is fake."

I think we're spending too much time on the pity party of the uneducated. That if they just had the chance of the college dream, they'd open their eyes and want to help others. I think the vast majority have already decided on their tribe, and we as a society need to be aware of this and structure accordingly rather than insult these groups by saying they're just stupid or misinformed. They know exactly what they're doing and are more than happy to achieve their goals because the ends justify the means.