Quote Originally Posted by Robb
In my experience working at a university and with faculty around the country, professor-types are typically not great thinkers outside of their disciplines, often more susceptible to endorsing "prevailing opinion" mindlessly than the plumbers, poker players, engineers or pharmacists I know. When I said lots of professors are closed-minded, I meant both conservatives and liberals as well as the non-politically-active. They tend to endorse the prevailing "group think" of others who, on similar issues, mainly agree with them. The academicians quoted in the article show many signs of this typically mindless reaction to life's events. Their reactions and thoughts are woefully predictable.

Academia is insular and protected (academic freedom, tenure system, etc) and tends to attract a high proportion of risk-averse folks. Sort of the polar opposite of poker. Certainly some of the most delightful people I've met are creative, risk-loving, free-thinking faculty. Sadly, they are an extreme minority at my university and some others I'm familiar with.

Generally speaking, the good poker players at FTR whose opinions I hear elucidated think much better about most things than typical faculty I know, likely because poker requires mental agility and flexibility and is fraught with risk. Taking bold action in a high risk scenario sharpens the mind.
Although I agree that there are a large number of people who are irrational outside of their field of expertise, I am reluctant to accept the notion that academia is like this to a greater degree than just about any other profession.

Also, confirmation bias can be very secretive and seductive