Denialism and skepticism are often used as slurs in the absence of strong evidence by those who favor popular consensus over evidence. A PI once confided in me

Denialism and skepticism are often used as slurs in the absence of strong evidence by those who favor popular consensus over evidence. A PI once confided in me that he didn't believe in the big bang. I was startled because creationism was on the rise, and I knew that he was Catholic. However, I also knew he was a natural empiricist, and after taking a quiet moment to think things through, I realized I was being tested to see if I could think critically and ask the right questions as a scientist. He didn't deny the big bang, and he wasn't replacing it with a worse theory. After a few questions, he demonstrated that his understanding of the evidence and his tools to evaluate it were far better than mine, and that while it was the most probable and best supported explanation, because it was not observed and was not currently reproducible, it wasn't anything that warranted "belief". Reality doesn't require our consent to exist.