Americans have a weird relationship with the intellectual community; we respect intelligence and expertise but we love seeing eggheads find out that they're not as smart as they thought they were.
Well, in many cases, this is true. Noam Chomsky is one of the world's finest linguists, but his political ideas are unworthy of a sophomore level course in political science in sophistication. On the other end of the spectrum, William Shockley was a great solid state physicist, but his racist ideas, in addition to being repugnant, were equally irrational and sophomoric.
Excellence in a narrow field of academic study is evidence of...excellence in a narrow field of academic study.
Most human beings have a particular brand of irrationality they nurse. For some, it's fundamentalist religion, For others, fundamentalist atheism. For others, their political ideas. For others, a hobby.
Academics aren't immune. Peer review is only switched on in the journals and conferences.
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