Saturday, April 4, 2015

Check Your Ego Before You Say Science is Wrong

Science is a process of constantly facing challenge by experts to validate the reliability of results and
conclusions. I trust the scientific process to reach the best possible answers on all matters to which it applies.
To suggest that a layman can out-think the international scientific community or has uncovered a "flaw" in scientific consensus is almost impossible. This happens most often when science is politicized: global warming, vaccines, and evolution come to mind.
There are many sources of cognitive bias to which we are all subject, but the relevant one here is called the "Dunning-Kruger" effect. Simply put, it states that before we understand a technical field, we are likely to underestimate its complexity and therefore overestimate our own abilities in the field. In short, it's arrogance -- unwarranted confidence in our own abilities.

So check your ego before you claim to know that science is wrong.

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