On Covid, global warming and other heated arguments

Every scientific hypothesis and theory attracts debate and dissent and people often think that is 'proof' the science is 'wrong', or even some kind of conspiracy or swindle.

 

That is a misunderstanding of science, which is not in the business of 'proving' or 'disproving' things, but rather of pointing to tendencies and causalities that may be taken to exist until they are shown by further testing and evidence not to exist.

 

In other words, all scientific knowledge is provisional and the opposite of dogma and belief.

 

People who doubt science on Covid and global warming often cannot see that to anyone thinking scientifically, the dissenting view may also turn out to be unreliable. The heated disagreements that follow settle nothing because they are the result of a difference in people's thinking and understanding.

So what is the answer then? How do you know which side is right?

The question is wrong. Outcomes in a scientific debate rest strictly on testing and evaluation that may take many years and, in the case of Covid, global warming and our own natures and origins, may never arrive at a complete answer.

On many subjects we have no alternative but to apply to people who specialise in them. The scientific question to ask scientists is: What is the weight of scientific opinion on this, not Who is right or wrong. There will always be dissidents.