Science is about the quest for 'truth'. Belief has no place in science.
The phrase “I believe in science” may be one of the most ridiculous things a person can say in this age of information.
Let me explain.
What this statement has come to mean is, “I believe in the current scientific consensus,” or “I trust the scientific results in this study posted right below.” It also implies that “anyone who disagrees with me is anti-science, and I have no reason to listen to them.” Not often do we realize that a person can find scientific evidence to support any belief they have about the world.
It is not sciences job to dissprove a theory and scientifically you can't prove a negative therefore it is up to the germ theory proponants to prove their hypothesis which they up till now have failed at. The dilemma comes from a desire to not take responsibility for their own health. There is no dilemma in the truth, only in hearing it.
Science is meant to be a process. The minute you “believe” in science is the minute you give away your critical thinking skills because a particular study tells you how to think. True scientists do not “believe” in scientific results so much as they believe in the process. They have the understanding that science is always changing. We will never arrive at a place and time where we know all there is to know. As a science major in college I learned that doing science often leaves us with more questions than answers.
Science is meant to be questioned, not blindly believed in. In the words of Richard Feynman,
“I’d rather have questions that can’t be answered than answers that can’t be questioned.”
The final issue I have with this statement is that most science has been bought by our capitalistic and reductionist culture. We only study the things that can make us money and only those with money can fund the science that they believe in. We might study what a drug or supplement does to one part of our body instead of looking at how it affects the whole person long term.
“Science is too delicate for market forces to govern. It turns scientists into salesmen” - Bret Weinstein
Science is a tool that helps us understand the world. Science is not a religion. Science is not a weapon to use against people who don’t agree with you.
If you read an article that cites a study, tells you how to think, and then asks no questions, take it with a grain of salt. If it seems to have everything about this subject figured out, move on. Filter any scientific result through your own personal devil's advocate. What does your gut tell you intuitively? How does it compare to the biological norm? How does it compare to what you know to be true in the world? And, for the love of all that is holy, when someone else has a different scientific opinion try to engage in a conversation instead of a debate.
Science,
by Victoria Miner
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I question almost everything. My attitude is more of a questioning nature, or so I think I taught myself. Where I trust myself is, what I see when it comes to differences between people. That an issue like the current one is seen from different perspectives and coupled with emotions, is a simple fact for me (I don't question that:). That was what I tried to express. I have no disagreements towards what you cited and pointed out. We are on the same page here, I just realize, that there are other pages.
Good night from here.