Quote:
Originally Posted by SeanL
And skepticism is not a bad thing, but irrational mistrust and even fear of the scientific community is a bad thing.
|
For my own part, I never claimed to mistrust the scientific community - I'm just pointing out that science is being treated the same way as religion... Most laypeople don't know enough about science to interpret the data for themselves, which is where faith comes into play... And putting your faith into a group of people who claim to have all the answers sounds a lot like a religion to me... It falls more on the heads of the ignorant masses than the scientists, but it certainly does open the door for the same type of corruption that you find in religion.
Which is why we have good, old-fashioned greed is motivating some -- not most -- but some people in the scientific community to stray from scientific rigor in favor of a quick buck (peak oil, tobacco, global warming, even intelligent design)... Which has an affect in the court of popular opinion, not to mention politics (coming full-circle.)