Consensus is not Science; Science is Not Consensus
"
The learned consensus used to be that the sun orbited around the earth." -
Mac-7
Yes, and any true scientist that believed that was open to the possibility that new scientific information might prove that untrue. But you don't claim that to be what scientists held true, but 'the learned' and who pray tell were these
learned?
Your false argument is exposed, when your omission is exposed:
Galileo Galilei put his liberty and life on the line to convince the religious establishment that the Copernican model of the solar system, in which the Earth and the other planets revolved around the sun, represented physical reality.
The learned folks, those so-called scientists you refer to were not engaging in sicience on the subject. They did not base their views on any scientific consensus based on science itself. Their views and
science were in line with what the Church demanded.
"
But science is not a show of hands exercise." -
Mac-7
There exist scientific consensus on many things. To deny this is to be engaging in mental masturbation, with no hope of a release.
And when you reframe what others say, you end up looking even less intelligent than believed possible. Nobody claims '
Science is consensus!!" What people say is that there exists a consensus on many scientific theories. And no scientist has a closed mind to changes in the known that can be proven. Disagreement, discussion, and debate exist in the scientific fields. And when in the 21st century, a consensus is reached, it is usually a learned consensus absent religious dogma.