04-28-2021, 03:06 AM
PeterB wrote:
Yes, the problem is that part of understanding scientific / medical information is the awareness that science is (unlike religion) always to be questioned and corrected if need be-- critical thinking is part of the process. And as others have pointed out, it's rarely about absolutes or 5-second sound bites. It's messy and complicated, which is perfectly OK.
Skepticism is an integral part of ferreting out cause and effect patterns in nature. It's so easy to see patterns that aren't there and to miss patterns that are. But skepticism does not imply that you can't come to a reasonable judgment about how much confidence you have about certain well tested hypotheses. Especially in practical application. I hear Fauci all the time talking in terms of how much confidence - or lack of - that they have in different scientific assessments.