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Rising distrust in 'expert' opinion maybe inevitable. What's driving it and what can we do about it?

Rising distrust in 'expert' opinion maybe inevitable. What's driving it and what can we do about it? Studies such as The 2017 Edelman Trust Barometer has shown that across the world 'distrust in expert opinion in Governments, Media, NGOs and Financial institutions is rising. According to the report government was the least trusted institution, followed by the media, now distrusted in 82% of the countries surveyed'  – https://www.edelman.com/trust-barometer . But wait, has the role of the expert not always been an evolving one, undergoing constant metamorphosis to fit the spirit of the times? It is important perhaps to note that an understanding of the 'expert' as an all knowing human in whose words and actions (in relation to their field) personal opinion, interest or flaws should have little to no place is perhaps a very misleading one. Indeed, we have seen that human flaws and selfish interest has never really been that far removed from 'exp

A fourth industrial revolution is breaking lines and transforming everything. Can we catch up with it without leaving poor countries further behind?

The world is ushering in the dawn of a fourth industrial revolution ' characterized by a fusion of technologies that is blurring the lines between the physical, digital, and biological spheres.' [1]    We are seeing 'emerging technology breakthroughs in a number of fields, including robotics, artificial intell igence, blockchain, nanotechnology, quantum computing, biotechnology, The Internet of Things, 3D printing and autonomous vehicles.' https://www.weforum.org/about/the-fourth-industrial-revolution-by-klaus-schwab How can we catch up with it leaving no country behind?  Past industrial revolutions have shown us that poor countries and our values have not always kept up with the growing opportunities and challenges the world is faced with. Many have highlighted the great potential as well as dangers of letting the machines loose. Continuing disruptive b reakthroughs will herald an inevitable cultural and socioeconomic revolution, just as we have seen in the past. How