[orev]

This is the fundamental misunderstanding of science. Science is a process, not a library of knowledge. You do the best you can with the info you have right now. Every time science changes, it means it’s getting better.

Anything else is religion — wanting to have a single unchanging answer forever. That’s the appeal of religion, and in the short term it might make you feel better, but in the long term it cannot adapt and eventually is out of sync with reality.

Science always wins because it can change.

[DougN7]

The problem is science almost always (except maybe in physics??) pretends it has arrived at the ultimate truth this time. It’s easy to detect too: just watch for the phrase “but now we know...”

It would help tremendously if new information was presented with some humility.

[joshspankit]

100% agreed. So much so that I was compelled to expand on it: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26634484

[psychiatrist24]

But you mentioned things that were flat out wrong or harmful. I think the fundamental misunderstanding is that scientism is science.