the most dangerous word in the phrase "believe the science" is "the"
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ngl the past two and a half have frightened me with how nakedly motivated stuff has gotten pushed under the aegis of scientific consensus along with efforts to pathologize and devalue criticism/dissent
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doubly frightening seeing how i too am deeply vulnerable to the latter along with how many friends/acquaintances are willing to enforce it
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“believe” also bad though—science is a method, not any particular conclusion
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The words current and consensus are "silent partners". It comes down to: trust that a majority, of a community that takes pride in changing its mind, is, once and for all, right. In the face of the evidence, that much of what they are sure of now, they will soon decide is: wrong.
No, it’s “believe”. Because it conveys a fundamental misunderstanding of what the person is trying to signal.
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Or is it science, because the person is trying to use that framing to suggest truth and neutrality? A lot of pop science isn't.
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Whenever someone speaks about “the”science, I think of this Latin phrase:
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Any exhortation to 'believe', as though it was a pledge of allegiance or summons to fairies or in some a way decision as opposed to being a natural response to credible evidence is corrupt
Better to say: (try to) Understand Science
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