Nobel Prize-Winner Rejects “Scientific Consensus”

<div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW224859923 BCX4"> <p><span data-contrast="none">When it comes to public controversies, a handful of phrases have become de facto “conversation stoppers.” One of these is “scientists say ...”</span><span data-ccp-props= "{"201341983":0,"335559731":720,"335559739":213,"335559740":480}"> </span></p> <p><span data-contrast="none">Well, last year, a quantum physicist named John F. Clauser</span> <a href= "https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2022/10/04/nobel-prize-physics/"> <span data-contrast="none">won the Nobel Prize</span></a><span data-contrast="none">. If anyone has earned the right to make debate-stopping claims about science, it’s a Nobel Prize-winning physicist. However,</span> <a href= "https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/11/16/he-won-nobel-prize-then-he-started-denying-climate-change/"> <span data-contrast="none">according to</span> <em><span data-contrast="none">The Washington Post</span></em></a><span data-contrast="none">,</span> <span data-contrast="none">Clauser does not believe humans are facing imminent extinction due to fossil fuels. This view puts him at odds with what the</span> <em><span data-contrast= "none">Post</span></em> <span data-contrast="none">calls the “scientific consensus,” implying that he’s lost all authority as a scientist.</span><span data-ccp-props= "{"201341983":0,"335559731":720,"335559739":213,"335559740":480}"> </span></p> <p><span data-contrast="none">This is the danger of the postmodern habit of making truth claims dependent on the community that makes them. “The science says” isn’t a mic drop if a scientist says something else. Consensus, even</span> <em><span data-contrast= "none">scientific consensus,</span></em> <span data-contrast= "none">should not shortcut the pursuit of truth. A better and more honest approach is the scientific method, in which our theories and ideas are constantly questioned and tested to discover what is true.</span></p> </div>