>
>The
> > consensus may be wrong, but what makes something scientifically
>respectable
> > is that the scientists agree on it.
>
>so then despite the fact that the consensus could be wrong, we should go
>ahead and have faith in said consensus, as you suggested earlier, because
>consensus is what makes something scientifically respectable? what the
>fuck?
Sensible people are fallibilists: we acknowledge that our beliefs might be wrong, even if we are pretty sure that they are not wrong, or have little or no reason at present to think that they are wrong. The mere fact that the consensus could be wrong is not by itself a reason to doubt it. Given thst it is a consensus produced by normally reliable methods and procedures that we depend on in other contexts, the fact that the consensus is overwhelming is itself a reason to think that it probably not wrong. This is all quite obvious, no? --jks
_____________________________________________________________________________________ Get more from the Web. FREE MSN Explorer download : http://explorer.msn.com