AndreH and
Noclevername are right regarding evidence in science,
Thumper.
A while ago, another poster asked for evidence that the universe is expanding, and
Tim Thompson gave an
excellent reply. I urge you to read it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Noclevername
Of course they are. Everyone is. But don't confuse science (the process) with scientists.
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Science is as good as the scientists who make it. I think what you are suggesting, and I agree with it in part, is that the various biases that scientists may have will in general cancel each other out, making the general scientific consensus less biased. However, if too many scientists in a field share similar biases, then the end result can still be very biased. There are historical examples of this.
If you meant to say that
in the long run human criticism and empirical evidence tend to smooth out the biases, I agree again. Still, it can take some time for that evening out to happen.
Another important issue which you may not have considered, because it's not strictly speaking scientific (though Thomas Kuhn and his followers might describe it as such) is that even when the scientific consensus has been relatively evened, popular wisdom often lags behind it, sometimes with the support of some scientists who make up a minority, but who remain influential for reasons that are not strictly scientific, such as political prominence, or fame. Case in point,
Professor James Watson.