[enraged_camel]

>>So is there ever any way to know when "the mass market are morons" means what it says literally or when it's a stand-in for "most people aren't agreeing with my strongly held beliefs".

Absolutely there is. We have a measuring stick with which we can measure the validity of one's beliefs: empirical evidence.

If you believe X, and scientists say we have sufficient empirical evidence that confirms that belief, and the mass market doesn't believe X, that makes the mass market a bunch of morons. This is inarguable.

[_yosefk]

There are many kinds of evidence and many ways to interpret it - and many kinds of science (physicists disagree with each other less than economists for a reason.)

Incidentally, most "morons" disagree with you on matters where they can find a scientist on their side, or on issues of morality, or on inconsequential matters (like the origin of life, which is interesting to most but doesn't affect any practical decision.) Few "morons" jump out of windows in defiance of gravity, and those who do no longer bother you on Twitter.

Also, scientists err, falsify results, cherry-pick them, etc. Of course, so do "morons"...

[Eiriksmal]

Well said. Even when science means well, it can suck to be on the non-moron side.

For ~120 years, science "knew" that an element existed inside all ignitable substances that was released during burning. When the air was fully saturated with phlogiston, the burning stopped. Just put a candle in a jar and watch what happens. The theory's sound, right?

120 years is a few lifetimes, who knows what revelations will drop before the 21st century winds down?