Quote:If the point is that scientists might be wrong, because they have been wrong in the past, no argument from me on that.   Scientists, unlike politicians, can change their mind based on evidence.  That's because scientists are basically honest.   That's one of the main prerequisites of being a scientist- to honestly accept what the evidence tells you. 

 

Do I have faith in scientists?   Yes, I do, because if it turns out they are wrong, they will tell me.   In fact, that's what happened in the article you are linking.  

That's the whole problem though. Staunch defenders of a party weather can only parrot what they are told by party leaders. They then hunt up any and all tidbits of "evidence" to confirm the pre-existing bias being trumpeted by party leaders. Due to this they are unable to change their minds on their own or they lose a part of their own identity. That leads to not being able to understand that scientists can in fact change their mind based on actual evidence. Not various gotcha moments. 

 

Some people are so fearful of losing their identity that they come to have utter disdain for actual intelligence in both the scientific and academic community. 

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