Yes but it’s worth pointing out that peer review is also a form of consensus-building. It’s not a perfect process, but it’s pretty workable if everyone’s pulling in the same direction.
Isn’t it the case that “consensus” in the sciences is just a shorthand for “we agree that this is most likely to be true”?
If I were conversing with a scientist and I asked about possibility x, and they disagreed with it for the reason that “the consensus is…”, I would assume that they are not saying possibility x is wrong, but rather that they would need really good evidence to agree that x is correct.
Yeah, you are right. Too many people in the sciences believe this as well. Science is about repeatability and falsifiable hypothesis…
Yes but it’s worth pointing out that peer review is also a form of consensus-building. It’s not a perfect process, but it’s pretty workable if everyone’s pulling in the same direction.
Isn’t it the case that “consensus” in the sciences is just a shorthand for “we agree that this is most likely to be true”?
If I were conversing with a scientist and I asked about possibility x, and they disagreed with it for the reason that “the consensus is…”, I would assume that they are not saying possibility x is wrong, but rather that they would need really good evidence to agree that x is correct.