I'm always confused when I read/hear people say things like this. Do people think there is a skyscraper downtown with a giant sign on it that says Expert HQ on it or something where they release their findings from?
I understand that science is multi-facted discipline and there are a lot of people who have dedicated their lives to their craft and discovering truth because of their desire to solve human suffering and figure out how the world works.
I also think there are a bunch of "scientists" that like the veneer that comes with the title like to spend their time talking on TV, going to parties, chairing committees and stealing credit from people doing work. They are aided and abetted in this endevour by the popular media and politicians who just want to slap out some new "discovery" to get clicks.
The first group is anxious for their work to be peer reviewed, tries to explain things simply, and will do what they do even if there was no reward and no one appreciated their work. They have qualifications.
The second group uses jargon to try and confuse people, hate when people call them on things, use their influence to restrict funding to others and publicly deride their opponents who disagree with them. They have credentials.
Unfortunately, society generally listens to the 2nd group over the first group because they often tell them what they want to hear.
Doctors learn the results of science, but generally aren’t scientists. People doing science outreach are generally in that same category where their knowledgeable, but speak outside their specialty. Simply because being able to do original research today means a very narrow focus.
Beyond that, the best available information isn’t always that clear. Low salt diets for example where prompted based on very limited information that suggested they where slightly more likely to be useful than pointless. Unfortunately, we rarely have unambiguous data which gives clear guidance. Vitamin C for example is mandatory, but you can have zero vitamin C for 2 weeks without issue or quickly excrete excess. For more subtle interactions it’s just difficult to figure out what’s going on.
I think a lot of people think that sociopaths and narcissists have a tendency to rise to power in politics, business and media over time, as well as have a tendency to lie and cheat to the general population to advance their agenda. "Science" is one of the topics that the average person reveres but doesn't really understand, and so is readily weaponized for less than altruistic reasons.
As a recent relevant example with the pandemic, there was a widespread effort by the media
and politicians to discredit various well understood, several decade old drugs known to effectively regulate inflammatory problems. The primary objection was an appeal to "science" claiming that the drugs were untested for their effectiveness specifically against covid, and sensational claims that they are dangerous. Meanwhile, you have pharmaceutical companies injecting mRNA purposefully designed to essentially cause a temporary auto-immune disease into anyone they can, enjoying the fact that they were able to skip a decade of best practices for vetting new treatments. It just seems like maybe there's some unscientific human bias in there...
I also think there are a bunch of "scientists" that like the veneer that comes with the title like to spend their time talking on TV, going to parties, chairing committees and stealing credit from people doing work. They are aided and abetted in this endevour by the popular media and politicians who just want to slap out some new "discovery" to get clicks.
The first group is anxious for their work to be peer reviewed, tries to explain things simply, and will do what they do even if there was no reward and no one appreciated their work. They have qualifications.
The second group uses jargon to try and confuse people, hate when people call them on things, use their influence to restrict funding to others and publicly deride their opponents who disagree with them. They have credentials.
Unfortunately, society generally listens to the 2nd group over the first group because they often tell them what they want to hear.