Should you believe the information you’re being told?

Listen to and compare what many experts say, not just your favourite one. Scientific consensus can be a good starting point to trust what you hear, even if it’s incomplete. After all, Newton famously claimed that if he could see further than others, it was only because he was standing on the shoulders of giants.

How do you decide that you can trust what an expert says? Here are some questions you can ask:

• Do other experts agree on the topic? If most experts agree on a scientific viewpoint, this is a good sign of the reliability of that viewpoint.
• Disagreements among scientists are common, but they do sometimes reach a consensus. For example, in the 1970s, scientists found that smoking tobacco was harmful, and in the 90s, it was agreed that global warming was caused by CO2 emissions. Can you find evidence of agreement in the news?
• Sometimes, untrustworthy sources may ignore scientific consensus and share information as if they were part of a balanced discussion. If you find information that indicates that scientists haven’t reached a consensus, ask if it’s a genuine disagreement. Or is someone, possibly with vested interests, trying to make it look like a real disagreement? ^{1, 2, 3}

Additional Resources

1. Fact Checking The Claim Of 97% Consensus On Anthropogenic Climate Change Forbes
2. The Scientific Consensus on Climate Change Science
3. How to Determine the Scientific Consensus on Global Warming Scientific American