Throughout this pandemic I've been so frustrated with many people who have been arguing with health experts and I've been trying to figure out why I'm so comfortable giving my trust to experts. Today after reading yet another poorly informed comment I think I've figured it out 1/

I am a history teacher, specifically I teach a lot of world history. I regularly study history to further my understanding and am entrenched in historical processes and patterns every day. This means that when I meet someone who says "Oh I love history" I actually almost panic 2/

bc what that usually means is that they have spent a lot of time studying a couple of very specific times in history (and tbh if it's a white guy I'm talking to, it's either the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, or WWII OR all 3). Which means they think they "get" history 3/

but what they really get is one snapshot, bc they haven't taken the time (bc it isn't their job to do this) to step back and see broader themes & bigger pictures. These "history buffs" stress me out bc they may know more details but they don't see how it all fits together 4/

Similarly, I may read a couple of articles on epidemics, coronavirus, vaccines, etc. and I might hang on to some details but I do NOT understand the bigger picture and I get that. So I'm going to just keep trusting the experts. So grateful for their training and knowledge!