Eli5: Why is there such a negative response to controversial topics in science, wasn’t the existence of “atoms” extremely controversial back in the days as well?

Question

Shouldn’t people research and discuss topics in a calm and rational manner instead of some sort of “you vs me” type of mentality?

In: 1

Answer 1

Good science works hard to prove itself wrong. Good scientists get excited by this. There are bad eggs in all areas of expertise.

My advice is that if you question anything, physics, math, engineering, hell… even an algorithm, and someone lashes out in disbelief… disassociate yourself with that person. They’re not going to help you solve anything.