[Mamzelle]

"Fellow" scientists?

[jec41]

Whereas if a cosmologist waves his hands and murmurs soothingly about "billions and billions of years"--who can say him nay?

He would not then be a cosmologist. The profession of a cosmologist requires the explanation of empirical evidence. Your portrayal of a cosmologist is that you infer that he is a opinionest which is a making of your own opinion but not philosophy. Philosophy would require logical deduction for proof. A opinionest seeks to persuade for agenda and is devoid of ethics or ethical examination or ethical treatment of any kind that would stall agenda.