Should people trust scientific consensus?

Both brothers have sided with science since 2007; Hank prefers consensus to his own hunch, and in 2020 John urged listening to experts. From 2021 Hank added that treating existing knowledge as gospel is unscientific, since science is a self-correcting human system for uncovering truth. In 2026 John called the measles vaccine and others safe and effective.

Axis: yes, consensus is our best guide ... no, be sceptical of experts

Positions by date: 21 records in 19 videos. The position was refined (2021, 2025), never reversed, in these records.

John

date	how	position	video
2007-10-22	first on record	John says young-earth creationism, still inspired by Ussher's 17th-century chronology, strikes him as ludicrous.	October 22nd: The Anniversary of Young Earth Creationism 00:01:02
2009-11-08	restate	John argues the H1N1 vaccine isn't dangerous and the flu is far more so, fear of side effects is irrational, and a doctor who avoids clinical trials deserves suspicion.	H1N1 Vaccine Fears 00:01:16
2020-03-17	restate	John says we must listen to experts and isolate ourselves appropriately.	together. 00:01:56
2020-05-26	restate	John argues expertise hasn't failed: we are watching in real time how it happens, as our species learns a new virus's properties and then progressively better containment strategies.	you'll never know 00:02:55
2026-08-25	restate	John says the vaccines used against measles, mumps, rubella and others are safe and effective.	The Great Thing about Infectious Disease 00:04:23

Hank

date	how	position	video
2007-10-23	first on record	Hank sides with 'Team Science': science works from the factors toward a solution, creationism from a fixed solution; he agrees with John that young-earth creationism is anti-intellectual.	October 23rd: Some Explaining to Do… 00:02:04
2013-09-27	restate	Hank rebuts the urban-thermometer argument with data from rural stations, satellites and deep-ocean thermometers: scientists are not stupid.	Invalid Arguments: Climate Change 00:01:24
2017-04-28	restate	Hank says that if you read peer-reviewed articles, talk with a politician or actually read mainstream news, by and large you find that experts really are experts.	Can You Trust Mainstream Media? 00:02:02
2017-08-25	restate	Hank says he is often not arguing but explaining that, on things he isn't interested in or able to learn enough about, he happily accepts scientific consensus as far better than his hunch.	Trust and Fire - Thoughts from the Smoke 00:02:03
2019-08-23	restate	Hank says this is why we have science to warn us so we can act, and human rights to protect people whose land and life are their own.	The Amazon isn't "Burning" - It's Being Burned 00:06:07
2020-04-10	restate	Hank says we are, at least for now, listening to expertise; many who found it useful to call a regular person's gut feeling equal to decades of expertise are now glad it exists.	Things I'm Finding Encouraging 00:00:53
2020-11-20	restate	Politicians don't develop vaccines, and the rules for testing vaccine safety did not change at all in the last year: scientists deliberately changed nothing.	Would I Take a COVID Vaccine? 00:01:30
2021-07-30	refine	Hank, who loves being a science guy, says one can have too much faith in existing scientific knowledge: treating it as gospel is deeply unscientific.	Can You Trust Science Too Much? 00:00:00
2021-07-30	restate	Science is not always right and would stop progressing if all thought it was; it is not a set of facts or an ideology but a human system very good at uncovering truth.	Can You Trust Science Too Much? 00:03:31
2023-12-08	restate	Hank says cancers are high-impact, sneaky diseases needing high-impact treatment, and the slow, tedious work of medical research made his treatment far less awful than 10 years ago.	Did Natural Cancer Treatments Save My Life? 00:02:09
2024-11-22	restate	Hank says the measles vaccine and FDA rules on raw milk are easy to attack but the evidence says they don't deserve cancelling; he worries systems are being cancelled.	Populism, Media Revolutions, and Our Terrible Moment 00:25:54
2025-02-28	restate	Hank says, hating it, that what pushes back hardest against phony vaccine-danger stories is not his angry videos but children falling ill and dying, which makes vaccination rates rise again.	We Will Eradicate Measles 00:05:31
2025-09-12	restate	Hank says extraordinary claims need evidence, open data and time to answer challenges: the body of scientific knowledge is what has survived contact with intense skepticism.	This Might Actually be Happening 00:17:14
2025-10-02	restate	Hank calls science the best system ever developed for uncovering truth, so it matters to him and to society when someone finds where it is failing, as Goodall did.	You are Probably Underestimating Jane Goodall’s Impact 00:02:16
2025-10-02	refine	Hank says that when we mistake the tools of science for science we can miss things, and Goodall's work is the best example he knows of this going wrong and then self-correcting.	You are Probably Underestimating Jane Goodall’s Impact 00:05:12
2025-11-10	restate	Hank says that over time, very slowly and carefully, the 'global we' did that research, and it took decades.	My Cancer Treatment was Not Cutting Edge 00:03:24

Background

date	how	position	video
2025-06-17	background	John believes in evolution, and also in a heliocentric solar system and a round Earth. (playful)	My Religion 00:03:53