Have you ever come across thalidomide? Or asbestos? Or smoking? Or a laundry list of other such, some even genuinely well intentioned interventions, that have caused a small benefit yet a great harm which was only discovered half a generation later at times. I’m not even talking about the known harms caused in the name of profit.
With this, it would be kinda silly to say we haven’t been wrong at all for the past 120 years. I’m not knocking being wrong either, we can often learn much more from failures, especially failures of others if we are really smart. Science (of all kinds) has, does and always will progress in a trial and error, haphazard fashion despite all grand standing to otherwise. To deny others that same opportunity is hypocritical and ignorant.
though I agree that there could be many things wrong with science today. Your examples aren’t the best fit
both asbestos and smoking at first appeared to everybody to be something good. And it for sure wasn’t your anti-vax neighbour who proved they were dangerous because of “toxins” and “5G mind control implants”
non-experts today are at an incredible disadvantage when it comes to science simply because science got really complicated and interconnected. I believe this is also a part of why some people are losing their trust in it, it’s hard to simply trust something you can’t understand yourself
Have you ever come across thalidomide? Or asbestos? Or smoking? Or a laundry list of other such, some even genuinely well intentioned interventions, that have caused a small benefit yet a great harm which was only discovered half a generation later at times. I’m not even talking about the known harms caused in the name of profit.
With this, it would be kinda silly to say we haven’t been wrong at all for the past 120 years. I’m not knocking being wrong either, we can often learn much more from failures, especially failures of others if we are really smart. Science (of all kinds) has, does and always will progress in a trial and error, haphazard fashion despite all grand standing to otherwise. To deny others that same opportunity is hypocritical and ignorant.
/Ted talk
though I agree that there could be many things wrong with science today. Your examples aren’t the best fit
both asbestos and smoking at first appeared to everybody to be something good. And it for sure wasn’t your anti-vax neighbour who proved they were dangerous because of “toxins” and “5G mind control implants”
non-experts today are at an incredible disadvantage when it comes to science simply because science got really complicated and interconnected. I believe this is also a part of why some people are losing their trust in it, it’s hard to simply trust something you can’t understand yourself