Also, given the enormity of knowledge in the world, and the complete inability of any individual to be an expert in everything, or even to know a tiny bit of the totality of knowledge, I choose to trust the scientific consensus as transmitted by scientists. Now some people think they should go to Google, find a bunch of websites, and do their own research, then they can challenge the scientists on subjects they are experts in, and that we should all do this or we are just sheep. Well I have no issue with trying to expand one’s knowledge base and gain some understanding of why scientists say what they do. I have no problem with applying some basic critical thinking skills to what the media says science says. But I guarantee that all the internet research in the world will not make you (or me) a quantum physicist. Scientists spend years reading and analyzing the published research in their field before they even get to the point of doing their own research, and they never stop reading the latest research. Even the greatest biologist in the world, if he has half a brain, will not go around challenging quantum physicists in their own fields, just as they would not challenge him, because they had to specialize at some point to gain an adequate depth of knowledge.
But ultimately, I trust biologists and paleontologists on evolution, I trust physicists on quantum mechanics, and I trust climatologists on climate change for the same reason that I would go to a professional surgeon to remove my appendix and not some guy who spends his spare time in the basement googling appendix. Because I trust the people who have studied for years, then practiced, then gained years of experience doing the real work. So if you trust amateurs and crank websites on science, next time your have a sharp stabbing pain in your lower abdomen, I’ll take your appendix out dirt cheap, I’m sure I can figure it out on the internet.