THE UNCONSIDERED BELIEF that there is such a thing as group knowledge of and understanding that is able to make up for the lack of knowledge of and understanding of some things is a rather obvious fiction. There may be knowledge or understanding found within a group that will not be shared by all members of a group but the group's composite understanding is a fiction. A group doesn't share one mind, understanding and knowledge is a condition that exists within a mind, it can't exist where it isn't present in a mind. There is no such thing as a group-mind.
Yet that superstition is widespread among the uneducated but probably far more among the educated. Having worked in a library from the period when card catalogs were the ultimate means of cataloging the holdings of the library, you might as well attribute such knowledge and understanding to the cards, drawers and cabinets as to a group of people or even the entire species of human beings. I wish someone understanding something was going to provide me with the knowledge without me deciding to get and accept that knowledge and making it an attribute to me but that's not reality, it's make believe. "Science" doesn't know anything, it doesn't do anything, scientists know and do things and they can't know and do it all. The personification of "science" is a ubiquitous practice of virtually all people with educational credentials. There is no such thing. That's just a way of talking that may generally be innocuous as it is stupid but sometimes it's dangerous.
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