So @profkeithdevlin’s position appears to be that you are obligated to do what the scientists that Keith agrees with say at any given time, even if that clashes with what they said before and put aside any kind of accountability and rely on blind trust. /1
That is definitely not my position. I have a different kind of expertise. I am a trial lawyer and every day I see people attempting to convince other people to do what they want. Here, we have scientists with absolutely no humility won’t even admit they were previously wrong. 2/
People who are not straight with you cannot be trusted. That’s a principle of adjudication that goes back centuries. The scientists Keith wants us to listen to today have not explained why they were wrong and why now we should trust them despite them changing their story. 3/
And another thing. In most every trial, I hire expert scientists to testify. My experts say X. But the other side’s experts say Y. So I am well acquainted with the fact that science is not a monolith. 4/
That is, frankly, a gentle way of saying that scientists are just as susceptible to lying for their own personal benefit as anyone else.
So if your position is I should simply do what your favorite scientist tells me at any given moment, no. 5/
So if your position is I should simply do what your favorite scientist tells me at any given moment, no. 5/
