Some people say, "we should listen to experts over non-experts."
This opinion is popular among people who prefer to be confident in the accuracy of their sources. Other people prefer to be confident in their ability to piece together the truth. These are two very different approaches to truth seeking. I'll refer to them as the "rational" and "intuitive" approaches.
The rational approach seems to take less effort. It requires trust in its sources to provide accurate information. It offers little tolerance for distortion, so it's important to get it right.
In this mindset, misinformation is detrimental to your ability to find truth. You reject information that doesn't fit your current mental model. This is like throwing away a puzzle piece because it's an incomplete image.
The intuitive approach seems to take more focused attention. It requires diverse perspectives to discover new information. It offers a high tolerance for distortion.
In this mindset, even a distorted or misleading perspective can reveal the truth, like a lie that you know to be a lie. Every piece of information is useful. If it doesn't fit your current mental model, it inspires curiosity. This draws you to explore and gain deeper understanding. This allows you to determine where (if at all) the concept might fit in your model of reality. This is an intuitive process.
From the rational perspective, the intuitive approach seems to be imprecise and inaccurate. It makes those who use it appear simple-minded, gullible, or otherwise ridiculous.
From the intuitive perspective, the rational approach seems fragile and fixed. It makes those who use it appear small-minded, dismissive, or otherwise undeveloped.
Your approach is some combination of the two, and there's no need to argue over which is best. Rationally minded people are not without intuition. Intuitively minded people are not without reason. Changing the balance between the two in your own mind is an act of will.
We'd all enjoy a little patience, empathy, and compassion. Realize we have no reason to fear our differences. We can continue to be separate and unique even while connected as one.
