I knew a rocket scientist who was both a creationist and devoutly Mormon. Its not as uncommon as you'd think.

I've seen people make this point before, usually with the sentiment that even geniuses can be quirky and wrong.

Even if it might be right some times, it seems to drip with hubris. My first thought when someone infinitely more intelligent and accomplished than I am holds a surprising viewpoint isn't "huh, why aren't they as smart as me on this?". It's more "what am I missing here?"

The conclusion I've come to is that faith and logic occupy different portions and use different pathways in the brain. They're one of the things where the cognitive dissonance isn't as hard to hold having dissonance over other ideas - simply because they occupy different spaces in the head.

Yep, I've seen that rationale. Where that loses me is that it involves me applying some simple logic that there's no reason to believe that someone more intelligent than myself couldn't also apply themselves.

> My first thought when someone infinitely more intelligent and accomplished than I am holds a surprising viewpoint isn't "huh, why aren't they as smart as me on this?". It's more "what am I missing here?"

Why? Intelligence/accomplishment in one (or even multiple) field(s) doesn't mean they're infallible. Especially in a society where the most accomplished are often simply the most ruthless, this is a confusing default mode of thought to me.

Sure, it doesn't mean they're infallible. But it very well could mean they are just brighter than I am, potentially by a long shot.

> Especially in a society where the most accomplished are often simply the most ruthless

This is a popular take at the moment, and probably somewhat true, but there really are people out there who are just better at things than I am. For whatever reason, they have demonstrated much greater capabilities than I have. And I feel like I should avoid writing off their opinions simply because they don't line up with what I think is popular consensus.

Of course I shouldn't buy into some point of view just because someone influential thinks it. But I can hold space in my head for keeping track of what the various schools of thought are around a topic, and not picking a winner until I have to.