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

I feel like you have specific instances in mind, what do you have in mind? Are the cases you mean within academia, or among laymen?