[aspaceman]

Democracy is the worst form of government besides all the others.

Science is the worst form of knowledge gathering besides all the others.

Kelvin is a good example of a dogmatic blowhard in science. We may have named a unit after him, but all these years later people still remember how much folks like him pushed miasma theory rather than the idea that all the shit in the Thames gave you dysentary.

The folks in power weren’t going to suddenly replace all of the streets of London with proper sewers. And teach everyone to stop shitting in the street. That’s just too _uncomfortable_ to think about. So at first nothing happens. But science allows for the result to be written down, someone else goes “ah fuck shit gives you dysentary” and now blowhards like Kelvin are dead and there’s enough weakness exposed in the power structure, your ideas get put into practice. Cause it’s a good idea, it’s obvious, and a lot of the people who used to have a stake are dead.

It’s highly far from perfect. But there are very few mechanisms that are able to affect change after folks are long dead and buried.