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dpibel

(3,633 posts)
35. My opinion/belief has nothing to do with science
Tue Aug 12, 2025, 10:08 AM
Aug 12

If you catch a scientist saying, "Oh, I just trust the experts," that's a problem.

But for lay people to say, "Yeah, it's peer reviewed and supported by a broad consensus, but I know better," has nothing at all to do with science. You honestly think that, for instance, "the path of scientific progress" has been stifled because a bunch of bozos think they know something about vaccines?

Science is adversarial, by nature. The know-nothings who claim that scientists march in blind lockstep simply haven't been around scientists, whose greatest delight is proving the consensus wrong. But they have to actually do it, rather than just holding a contrarian opinion.

As for your belief that minority opinion is often right, I think you'd have to give me a little more than your say-so on that. The fact that it's so remarkable when the "minority opinion" (an odd choice of words when discussing science) is right rather calls that statement into question. I suspect you could marshal a handful of instances where the minority opinion was right (Galileo, for starters, doesn't really count, since he wasn't challenging science). But the idea that the minority position on a scientific proposition is as likely to be correct as the position supported by research, peer review, and consensus is, with all due respect, mistaken.

Recommendations

11 members have recommended this reply (displayed in chronological order):

Oh? Tell me who is SUPERIOR to "experts" then . . . . . no_hypocrisy Aug 12 #1
R effin' K jr does his own research. . . . . nt Bernardo de La Paz Aug 12 #4
... on RW internet. marble falls Aug 12 #10
Trust is not a feature of science hueymahl Aug 12 #13
Really? Who exactly do you trust for information?nt Phoenix61 Aug 12 #17
That poster is correct. yardwork Aug 12 #39
Excellent point! biophile Aug 12 #31
"Many of the experts?" vanlassie Aug 12 #37
Former NEJM editor, others feel the same biophile Aug 12 #50
You have not substantiated your statement. vanlassie Aug 12 #56
My opinion/belief has nothing to do with science dpibel Aug 12 #35
I think you're both right but saying things differently. yardwork Aug 12 #40
That is not what it is about Nasruddin Aug 12 #64
De worm. IrishAfricanAmerican Aug 12 #20
We need to define "expert." sop Aug 12 #36
also need to account for "experts" that go off the deep end cadoman Aug 12 #41
Peer review is necessary, in all fields, particularly journalism. "Expertise" should stand up to scrutiny. sop Aug 12 #53
But ignoring the experts *is* a feature of authoritarianism.... unblock Aug 12 #2
Why yes it is. mgardener Aug 12 #6
I think you have it backwards pcdb Aug 12 #61
Yes, but authoritarians are even more blatantly, and literally, all about the appeal to authority fallacy unblock Aug 12 #62
Trusting only the "experts" who agree with your crackpot beliefs is not science. tanyev Aug 12 #3
Very true Rebl2 Aug 12 #42
This guy is a fuck9ng disaster. johnnyfins Aug 12 #5
Think about all the charitable entities Mr. Evil Aug 12 #29
This man is a gd dangerous idiot. Experts are science based. Irish_Dem Aug 12 #7
Well... OldBaldy1701E Aug 12 #15
I am assuming we are talking about real experts not frauds. Irish_Dem Aug 12 #66
Exactly. OldBaldy1701E Aug 12 #67
How much of his brain did that worm eat? oasis Aug 12 #8
Or it's all worm shit...n/t the nelm Aug 12 #34
Part of it Rebl2 Aug 12 #43
The only thing in there to being with WAS the worm. (n/t) OldBaldy1701E Aug 12 #60
But pulling it from his butt and reading woooo on the internet is science. He had to have been switched at birth ... marble falls Aug 12 #9
Bobby Jr: "You can't control the amount of energy that everybody is getting." area51 Aug 12 #11
I saw that too... Moostache Aug 12 #45
I read that and nearly did a spit take. maxsolomon Aug 12 #59
What is this sick, deranged fuck doing, in charge of the nation's health? Paladin Aug 12 #12
Trump knew he was an idiot. Birds of a feather..... twodogsbarking Aug 12 #14
Kennedy appears to be very "new agey" in his thinking.. LiberalArkie Aug 12 #16
I don't Rebl2 Aug 12 #44
This guy's better than Buckaroo Bonzai. nt BootinUp Aug 12 #18
HEY! Don't insult Buckaroo Banzai that way. HE was a real neurosurgeon, physicist ms liberty Aug 12 #25
No matter where you go, there you are..... Bayard Aug 12 #46
"Trusting the experts is not a feature of either a science or democracy," Kennedy said." MLWR Aug 12 #19
Unfuckingbelievable. NNadir Aug 12 #21
"control the amount of energy"??? WTAF??? LymphocyteLover Aug 12 #22
'Murica truly is the land of opportunity, even an anti-vax conspiracy theorist long term heroin user ..... groundloop Aug 12 #23
You need to put that on a T-shirt and sell it. Dem2theMax Aug 12 #58
Yet he expects us to trust the expert heroin junky. truthisfreedom Aug 12 #24
Don't trust science, but trust an idiot. Nothing new here. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Firestorm49 Aug 12 #26
Trusting a brain damaged ex junkie isn't either Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin Aug 12 #27
And listening to you, Boobie, is far worse. Get a real job, like Chief Bottle Washer at an aluminum plant. Wonder Why Aug 12 #28
Fuck that freakshow fool Blue Owl Aug 12 #30
He's gonna kill so fucking many of us. Eliot Rosewater Aug 12 #32
But scrutinizing the evidence is C_U_L8R Aug 12 #33
But trusting an idiot who believes in quack medicine is? Dave Bowman Aug 12 #38
For anyone who missed it the first time around, Bayard Aug 12 #47
Trusting the experts is not a feature of either a science or democracy? patphil Aug 12 #48
I 100% agree. (nt) oasis Aug 12 #70
Trusting one who think he knows more than the experts is very foolish. republianmushroom Aug 12 #49
Trusting an idiot is not science. milestogo Aug 12 #51
Thinking like this could up-end many things bucolic_frolic Aug 12 #52
For some reason, magical thinking is Haggard Celine Aug 12 #57
"5,000 peer-reviewed studies" Who reviewed them? Just whoever? underpants Aug 12 #54
Vax research gfarber Aug 12 #55
So instead of experts Nasruddin Aug 12 #63
Trusting Brain Worm Bobby BlueMTexpat Aug 12 #65
My high school biology asks: What the F--k is he talking about? How much energy is in a dead virus? What? rickyhall Aug 12 #68
... He said, in his capacity as a self-proclaimed EXPERT?????? BurnDoubt Aug 12 #69
Research funding wasn't canceled? Nt BadgerKid Aug 13 #71
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