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<blockquote data-quote="Orius" data-source="post: 5136798" data-attributes="member: 8863">There's that too.&nbsp; But we do agree on the root cause: pride.&nbsp; Scientists can be very contentious because of pride, and because they don't want to look foolish or wrong.&nbsp; It's probably because of the whole religion vs. science thing apparently going on.&nbsp; Science by its very nature is disputational.&nbsp; But for some religions, there's a revealed truth, and questioning said truth is at best heretical.&nbsp; I think people who adherents of such religions simply don't understand that science is meant to be constantly re-examined.Yes, in contemporary American culture, there is the ideal that everone is equal means all their opinions are equally valid, regardless of how well informed one is.&nbsp; Isn't this a big dispute over on Wikipedia, where Joe Crackpot thinks he's just as well informed as an expert in just about any field?&nbsp; Nor does it help that some of the people who are experts or scholars can come off as arrogant and condescening; people naturally find that insulting.&nbsp; It's not that simple either though, because a lot of contemporary (and quite off-topic) religion and politics play their part as well, and tend to exacerbate the problems.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Orius, post: 5136798, member: 8863"] There's that too. But we do agree on the root cause: pride. Scientists can be very contentious because of pride, and because they don't want to look foolish or wrong. It's probably because of the whole religion vs. science thing apparently going on. Science by its very nature is disputational. But for some religions, there's a revealed truth, and questioning said truth is at best heretical. I think people who adherents of such religions simply don't understand that science is meant to be constantly re-examined. Yes, in contemporary American culture, there is the ideal that everone is equal means all their opinions are equally valid, regardless of how well informed one is. Isn't this a big dispute over on Wikipedia, where Joe Crackpot thinks he's just as well informed as an expert in just about any field? Nor does it help that some of the people who are experts or scholars can come off as arrogant and condescening; people naturally find that insulting. It's not that simple either though, because a lot of contemporary (and quite off-topic) religion and politics play their part as well, and tend to exacerbate the problems. [/QUOTE]

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