“This is the reality of scientific study; there are exceedingly few conclusions, only more questions, confusions, misunderstandings, etc.“ That goes too far. S

“This is the reality of scientific study; there are exceedingly few conclusions, only more questions, confusions, misunderstandings, etc.“ That goes too far. Some science really does follow the scientific method and documents the methodology well-enough to be replicated. That’s the basis for giving deference to scientists on some topics — they aren’t just experts, they have subjected their ideas to the cold hard scientific method and others have replicated the results. Somewhere along the line we demoted science to just be another expertise, where you can just walk around in a lab coat and have social status and people aren’t supposed to question you. Throw in some jargon. No, that’s not science. They can’t have it both ways. If scientists want deference on important topics, they need to follow the scientific method and not extrapolate too far from established results. No excuses like being “paralyzed” by requiring replicable results.