The Mistrust of Science and Scholarship

[Taraz]

Something that has been bothering me lately is the general mistrust of scientific and academic research in American society. Obviously it is good to be skeptical and critical of all new information you hear. But when there is a consensus among the experts in a given field, it seems like we should defer to their judgment. So why doesn't this happen?

It's not like scientists and academics get paid a lot of money for their work. And they usually don't choose their fields for any reason other than they are fascinated by it. They have chosen to devote their life's work to a subject! So aside from a few individuals, why would we expect that they are misleading the public with their claims?

I don't buy the argument that researchers are just going along with the status quo. It seems like they would have much, much more to gain if they could prove the general consensus wrong. Imagine if you scientifically proved that gravity actually behaves differently than we now think. This would be huge news. You would get so much face time, notoriety, and FUNDING to do further research.

So what gives? Why does the public seem to discount the claims of the academics?