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My opinion is that conspiricy theories, medical quackery, and junk science all thrive because some people lack the tools they need to detect fallacies. Skepticism alone isn't enough. One needs some knowledge of a subject and also needs some practice thinking critically and solving problems, such that one doesn't get steamrolled by a huckster with a bag of statistics. Skepticism without critical thinking is a recipe for being led around by the nose.

I've noticed that there often seems to be a correlation between people who believe in young-earth creationism and medical quackery, for example. On some anti-evolution sites there are links to questionable medical practices and conspiricy theories. Same thing with holocaust denial. Anti-semitic sites often have links to other conspiracy theories and anti-medicine sites. (For the itchy trigger fingers among us, please note I am not connecting belief in the bible with holocaust denial.) I think it boils down to something like, if somebody is fooled by one bill of goods, then they're likely to be fooled by another.

That's why we hear things on these threads like "oh, you scientists think you know everything!" and stuff like that. They've been reading propaganda. No scientist or engineering or doctor ever says this. Most doctors are very good about explaining what they're sure about and what they're iffy about. Sure, I've met a doctor with bad bedside manner, we all have. But that doesn't mean the whole profession are arrogant know-it-alls.

Organ donors save lives.

That's why we hear things on these threads like "oh, you scientists think you know everything!" and stuff like that.

What gets me is the "no-win" situation they love to present. On the one hand, scientists think they know everything. In my experience, only one type of book has ever been presented as "infallible", and it ain't a science book. On the other hand, they (scientists) are always correcting themselves, so how can you trust anything they claim?

More inconsistency.