BF2S Forums Why don't people believe scientists?

Ignorance.

Nowadays, people only believe the "scientists" that come up with conclusions that they already agree with.

Global warming is a perfect example.  It can't possibly have anything to do with man's actions, if a scientist says it doesn't.  Nevermind the fact that he might be funded by Exxon or the American Petroleum Institute.

Then again, it's always been this way...  People generally believe what they WANT to believe is true, rather than what makes the most logical sense.  Religion is often a good example of this....

Ignorance is bliss.

Problem is that 80 years ago, scientists did reasearch for the sake of research. And most people were NOT funded, so they had to research something that they found intresting, and something that might eventually make a profit.
Simple, isn't it ?

Along comes "corporate intrests". Now 80 years ago, it wasn't so bad. Corporations bought the ideas (patents) from the inventors and started selling the products. Thing is that this practice then evolved intoextending the patents beyond 17 years by making minor changes. Overpricing the products. Keeping their own R&D people around, whos ideas automatically are owned by the company. GREED essentially.
And there's no fighting back. Today science isn't measured in leaps and bounds. It's measured in inches and centimeters. No single scientist can achieve a breakthrough because of two things:
1) Science is too complex for one man to create invent or discover something truly revolutionary
2) Even if someone does, he's FORCED to turn over control of the patent to some greedy money grubber, because noone wants to finance something if they dont have 60-80% control of the company and it's assets (!) GREED again.

So we're down to someone working on grants, or working for someone with "intrests". So would you believe a scientist who's working for phillip moris or another large tobacco manufacturer if he says "Smoking is extremely healthy for you, it clears the lungs, give you a hardon and doubles your lifespan" ? Ofcourse you wouldn't.... But why not ? That's how tobacco originally became a huge product in europe and the US. You wouldn't because of a healthy sceptisms about where you got the information from.
Fortunately governments and schools will sometimes fund "pure" science and projects that have little or no commercial intrest, but does give information or knowledge of things "we aught to know". But the number of philantropists around the world is QUICKLY fading away, so dont count on them, and sometimes the school or government may have a vested intrest in the result of the studies they fund, same as everyone else, so they'll nudge the project in "the right direction" to suit their needs. Good old greed again, this time it replaces the need to make a statement about "I was here"

As for the chineese, they're used to live in a society that tells them how to act, what to eat, where to sleep etc. etc. So if a scientist says something, then he's just another guy "who knows better than me". Give it 20-30 years and they'll think exactly like you and me.


In conclusion: I believe in science. But same as people kill people rather than guns kill people; In the wrong hands science is the gun, and it can be pointed the wrong way if the wielder so chooses. So I have to CHOOSE which scientists to believe. Because two scientists may say two different things, and they can't BOTH be right.

People are stupid.

Thinking is hard.

'Math is hard! Let's go shopping!' barbie.

Illogical hard-to-understand stuff.

Religion dismissing stuff as 'theory'.

Political spin confused as facts.

Because science does not rely on belief 

Skorpy-chan wrote:

Religion dismissing stuff as 'theory'.

Religion, as an abstract idea, will dismiss nothing. It is some of those people and their interpretations of religion that will dismiss 'stuff' as "theory."

It has been wrong in the past, that’s why.   Science isn’t an exact science and errors and misconceptions are prevalent throughout history. It is also about proving yourself wrong.; Richard Dawkins said that science wasn’t about coming up with a theory and proving it right, it is testing a theory be setting up tests in which it is designed to fail, that is the beauty of science. 

Science is openly self-correcting which is why it is the best system of knowledge we have, but that also means that at any given time some of the scientific knowledge we have will be misinformed or even just wrong.  The fact that not all scientists agree with each other and are willing to do their own tests is another healthy aspect to science but if science doesn’t agree 100% then it’s only natural that whole population won’t either.  I wouldn’t be surprised if the percentage of global warming deniers in the general public was roughly the same as the amount of sceptical scientists.

Religion. We're way more religious than people in China, even India (it's mainly Hindu, but doesn't have as much ethical stuff as Abrahamic religions) they're doing all sorts of research on DNA stuff and Stem cell stuff. Although if only the USA was like them, then shit would be awesome.

That's what I think. I personally am not religious, though i'm not an Athiest, that's a gay mans religon, i'm my own god and i'm gonna find me a goddess(s).

I believe in Scientific stuff because it makes more sense to me, if someone says it doesn't make sense and they can provide proof to it, so be it. I'll admit i'm getting increasingly annoyed at how so much can be blamed towards DNA though,  Sometimes i think that's just due to personality instead of genetics. Get real.

So to sum things up, it's pretty much because of (Abrahamic mainly) religions. Hooray, like every other god damn problem in the world. 'Scuse the punz

Last edited by Mekstizzle (2007-06-30 04:38:50)

Here's one for the Scientists to prove.  Does GOD exist?  At this point, it's only a theory...

Mekstizzle wrote:

Religion. We're way more religious than people in China, even India (it's mainly Hindu, but doesn't have as much ethical stuff as Abrahamic religions) they're doing all sorts of research on DNA stuff and Stem cell stuff. Although if only the USA was like them, then shit would be awesome.
That's what I think. I personally am not religious, though i'm not an Athiest, that's a gay mans religon, i'm my own god and i'm gonna find me a goddess(s).
I believe in Scientific stuff because it makes more sense to me, if someone says it doesn't make sense and they can provide proof to it, so be it. I'll admit i'm getting increasingly annoyed at how so much can be blamed towards DNA though,  Sometimes i think that's just due to personality instead of genetics. Get real.
So to sum things up, it's pretty much because of (Abrahamic mainly) religions. Hooray, like every other god damn problem in the world. 'Scuse the punz

You don't have to choose between religion and science: the two are incomparable. Religion contains suggestions of morality in your everyday life, spirituality and tries to instill certain values depending on which "flavor" you choose. Science is a well...science, based on logic, reasoning, and thought. The people who created these two sides should be crucified, since they pose no threat to each other. Taking the 'religious' stance on say, evolution is like taking plumbing advice from a barber. The 'science' of those older generations is what led to the acceptance of ideas such as a geocentric universe, which we have found through our studies to be unsound. I identify with Roman Catholicism and still "believe" science, much like those you can find in any religious denomination. You cannot deny scientific fact. Yet, in the Religion v. Science case, each side is sentenced to chug a bottle of syrup for wasting time with this "division" of incompatible ideas.

You're comparing them again!