Which brings me to the paradox of ignorance in our era: on the one hand, we are constantly bombarded by expert opinion, by all sorts of people – with or without Ph.D. after their name – who tell us exactly what to think (though rarely why we should think it). On the other hand, most of us are woefully inadequate to practice the venerable and vital art of baloney detection (or, more politely, critical thinking), which is so necessary in modern society.
由此就引出我们这个时代的无知悖论：一方面，我们不断受到各路专家意见的轰炸，不管在名字后面有没有博士头衔，他们都不断向我们灌输“正统”想法（尽管他们很少提及个中原因）。而另一方面，绝大多数人都不具备施行谬论检验（更礼貌的说法是批判性思维）这门古老而重要艺术的能力，而这种能力在现代社会中是如此重要。