Unpopular Science 240629

Against scientific consensus

A key theme of personal science is that we, as individuals, have the power—and responsibility—to make up our own minds about any subject. Listen to experts, of course, but remember that experts themselves often disagree, so you're not off the hook: you still have to pick which expert.

Experts—professional scientists—are subject to the same biases as the rest of us, which you must understand and correct for accordingly. Conformity and groupthink are among the biggest professional gotchas, so we raise our eyebrows whenever it appears that academics are universally in agreement on something.

A couple of readings this week that make us suspicious: