CNN, a former news station that spends most of its time misinforming its viewers and readers, recruited famously midwit Neil de Grasse Tyson, who runs a planetarium and pretends to be a scientist, to tell everyone not to trust anybody but them. 

CNN's Kaitlin Collins, who barely approaches midwit status herself, prompted Tyson, a man who cannot define the word "woman," to explain why nobody should think for themselves:

JUST IN: Neil deGrasse Tyson warns CNN viewers that refusing to trust the so-called “experts” could put your life at risk.

Doing your own research, he says, “could have ultimately lethal consequences if you’re making decisions that affect your health and well-being.”

“This is a… pic.twitter.com/Y2iGvVq9hk

— The Vigilant Fox 🦊 (@VigilantFox) December 13, 2024

Granted, it's not a secret that many people who still trust CNN do so because they are incapable of thinking for themselves, so he may have a bit of a point. How much worse could it be for them to trust the "experts" who created the COVID-19 pandemic tyranny than to trust their own intuition? The alternative for them might have been trusting Gwyneth Paltrow on sticking rocks in your nether region orifices. 

But for people capable of thinking for themselves about COVID-19, climate change, the safety of various medicines or treatments, or countless other matters, thinking for themselves is a pretty good strategy as long as they do real research themselves. I knew within days that shutting down society to address a particularly bad flu virus was a mistake, just as I knew that any "expert" talking about the Steele Dossier was a liar. 

CNN styles itself as an organization filled with "news" experts, and they see their own job as repeating whatever "expert" political analysts tell them. They are so trusted that even liberals laugh when CNN is described as "objective."

That unexpected laugh is one of the best unintentionally funny and telling moments in the history of TV.

They know!!! Even Colbert's audience know. pic.twitter.com/fip6XeY5lc

— Konstantin Kisin (@KonstantinKisin) August 13, 2024

Tyson's point about trusting tradesmen who know their stuff is not wrong, but not quite on point to say the least. Tradesmen aren't trusted because they have a piece of paper saying they are skilled, but because they are skilled, and if they weren't, there is a quick check on their qualifications: the final product works well, or it doesn't. 

There is a measure of success. It has nothing to do with claimed authority or the echo chamber where other so-called "experts" assure us that they are trustworthy. 

Today's "experts" in many areas have been shown to be failures, or even liars, and the reason people don't trust them is because they are failures and liars. 

"Inflation is transitory." "Safe and effective." "Kids are resilient." "The Afghanistan withdrawal was a great success." "The economy is roaring."

Kids are resilient, and if they aren’t, they are pansies. This message brought to you by mental health experts. pic.twitter.com/fjFMEnwsPv

— Bethany S. Mandel (@bethanyshondark) February 10, 2022

When it comes to practical matters, success or failure are the metrics. We don't celebrate SpaceX because the "experts" at NASA and Boeing tell us to. We do because the rockets work and even are reusable--a remarkable achievement. Boeing can't even make a safe capsule anymore. 

But the New York Times Science and Global Health reporter said kids are resilient! 🙄 https://t.co/eNKkUK1GqE pic.twitter.com/uTb36od4cD

— Kelley K (@KelleyKga) November 19, 2023

Trusting today's experts is a fool's errand. It makes you believe that Hunter Biden's laptop was Russian disinformation. 

"Expert" in today's parlance simply means "promoter of The Narrative™" and not "knows what the hell he is doing."

In a world where "experts" had experience, intellectual curiosity, integrity, and humility I would be inclined to trust them. The beauty of the division of labor is that we can export many of the big tasks to people who are best equipped to address them. I don't WANT to have to research every matter about which I care because I am busy. 

Pete Hegseth: “I don’t feel the need to respond to CNN.”

This is the way. 🇺🇸💥 pic.twitter.com/3hBSGuHMMS

— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) December 12, 2024

But experts have been self-refuting of late, and a lot of people who trusted the "experts" over the past few years have paid a high price for doing so, or even gone mad holding onto bad ideas because the experts told them to. 

Trusting Kaitlin Collins and Neil de Grasse Tyson is more like trusting your handyman neighbor who breaks everything he touches to fix your furnace or your plumbing.  Don't do it.