Arrogance
Science is pursued by an elite
Elitism breeds arrogance, it is a trap scientists must avoid
They ignore it at their peril
The antidote is a dose of Hippocratic humility:
Life is short, and Art long; the crisis fleeting; experience perilous, and decision difficult.
The most egregious example I have seen of disdain for hoi polloi is a statement by Parmenides:
[…] mortals knowing nothing wander aimlessly, since helplessness directs the roaming thought in their bosoms, and they are borne on, deaf and like-wise blind, amazed…
I have not yet come across a similar disdain for the common man in Aristotle’s writings. His arrogance, if you call it arrogance, is his conviction that human reasoning will not lead you astray. In this he was wrong and eventually his errors in physics and cosmology had to be corrected.
Similar sentiments are echoed even today:
"The general public may be able to follow the details of scientific research to only a modest degree, but it can register at least one great and important gain: confidence that human thought is dependable and natural law is universal." --Albert Einstein
Human reasoning is contaminated by bias and emotion. Even at the best,- and Aristotle was the best,- reasoning is at the mercy of the premises. “The most erroneous premises”, said Peer Gynt, “often lead to the most original results”.
Aristotle’s errors put a brake on the development of physics and astronomy for two millennia. It is the price you pay for blind faith in your swami.
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