From Covid to Climate, Take Nobody’s Word for It — Including the ‘Experts’
Heartland Author
October 18, 2021
By Gordon J. Fulks
From Covid to Climate, we like to imagine that those who hold themselves up as “scientific experts” know what they are talking about. But that is rarely the case. Experts probably have a perspective worth considering but not one that should be believed as gospel. A gaggle of experts chosen by someone with political motives certainly has no monopoly on the truth. In fact, political motives usually guarantee that “the science” is being so heavily misused as to be worthless.
So, how then do we grasp some measure of truth in a world awash with nonsense? That is easy. We ignore opinions and listen to the logic and evidence that knowledgeable people can present. Then we make up our own minds.
The remarkable scientists who founded in 1660 the world’s first scientific society, the British Royal Society, chose the motto “Nullius in verba” (Take nobody’s word for it). That expressed the determination of the Fellows to avoid the domination of authority and to make decisions based on data derived from experiments. They did not want to fall victim to the political and religious authorities as had Galileo 50 years earlier.
This was the profound shift in human thinking that began the Age of Science and has sustained it for close to 500 years.
https://heartlanddailynews.com/2021/10/from-covid-to-climate-take-nobodys-word-for-it-including-the-experts/
