Claim: We should always believe what scientific experts say - that's what science means.

Or is it Nullius in Verba?

Nullius in Verba means “take no one’s word for it,” and is the motto of the Royal Society, a principle which they have apparently abandoned. Nullius in Verba is the basic principle of science. The argument from authority is an invalid argument (the expert says such and such). Scientific arguments must be made from actual data.

It doesn’t matter who is making the claim, how many letters they have after their name, whether they are the world expert, how many world experts are in consensus, the only question is, can it be proven from the actual data? What does the data say?

As Einstein said in response to the book, 100 Authors Against Einstein, “Why 100? If I were wrong, one would have been enough.”

Richard Feynman’s lecture on the scientific method is well worth listening to. The version I originally found on YouTube seemed to have some important comments deleted in the edit the uploader had made. This documentary is clearly the source of that lecture, and I have timed it to start at the beginning of the section on the scientific method.

Revision History

23rd March found the full version of Richard Feynman’s talk, embedded in this movie length documentary, and set it to start at the relevant portion.