7 Things You Should Never Say To A Scientist

7. Science Is An Act Of Faith Too

There's this idea floating around that science is a system of belief, in the same way as something like Hinduism or believing in fairies. Apart from anything else, science isn't a "thing", a system of beliefs, but a method of enquiry. It's more of a verb than a noun.

The thing is about faith is that it requires you to have total trust and confidence in something, before you have been shown the evidence. Scientists will only put their trust in something after it has been proven, and even then will continue to put their best efforts into disproving it.

Einstein could perhaps be seen as one of the most revered figures in science, and yet all manner of scientists - from astronomers to theoretical physicists - have devoted that last century to trying to prove him wrong.

We feel like science is an act of faith, because we learn "science facts" and other things in the same way, by reading or hearing them, so they feel the same. The difference is that, ask a scientist to prove something and they will, to the best of their (and your) ability. Ask a faith leader to prove something, and they will tell you to have faith.