I am lucky, I used to say such things too lost. The word science meant something odd to me, a movement, a group, a belief system. In reality science is a cold , boring but successful list of rules for testing an idea. That's all science is. Its a method of observing things we see in nature. These rules were only written in the last one hundred and fifty years, by Francis Bacon. They are called 'the scientific method'.
That's it...... When people say science..... This is all it means. When people say scientists it means anyone using this method. That's it.
Thats it. No group. No movement. No conspiracy. No financial corruption. No nothing. Someone goes to a uni, gets a degree. They apply to get grant money from their country for a research idea and then they do it. They publish the results and they contribute to science.
As you can see, its super easy to prove something now believed to be true as false if its all lies.... it is easier than doing your own science, it is a HUGE and easy way to get famous, recognised and admiration. You saw something nobody else did! There are millions of people doing this and what you claim to be going on is impossible.
people denying evolution have no idea how many thousands of papers are published a day with new evidence, none of it being proven untrue. There are some things that are done poorly. There is a tiny percentage of people even being fraudulent with their research. Been as the results of everyone's research is accumilated and used to continue research, any frauds are soon seen. The motive is now lost for that person is shamed and never trusted again. The research is removed from science immediatly and the reasons why added. This is science in 2013. It isn't perfect but its good enough that it allows us to discuss this topic on a global network on computers and tablets and phones , all this by applying the scientific method to experimenting with sand, metal and air.
In comparison how easy is it to sell a cure with no published data on? Nobody can test it or defend it. How good is th man that keeps that cure locked away from mankind, even for scrutiny and why? There is no motive in not publishing for peer review. If anything it protects you and stops someone else doing it and tasking the credit.
we know it works because.... Well, it works! It gives is cell phones, chemotherapy, bridges, answers......
Science was done in the past, before Bacon, sometimes well (the egyptians worked out the circumfernsce of the earth) sometimes poorly (they used mercury as medicine). Now we are very strict with the rules in order to achieve much more, in much less time. Hence the scientific advancements of the last few hundred years.
Thats all science is. If you stick to the rules, anyone can do it. The only reason people need an education, is because we know so much. To get to grips and to catch up requires a degree as a bare minimum. Its not essential, but it is the best way. Credentials and credibility do matter too. That's just life, but if the science is good enough, again it won't matter. The problem is when people think they can claim things without doing the hard work. Science often finds that we can't trust anacdotal evidence, I.e. word of mouth or experience. It is the lowest form of evidence, not because of snobbery but because of how good the real scientific testing methods are. Anecdotal evidence leads to things like thalidomide, or believing the earth is flat as it does indeed appear to be by our vision and logic.
Darwin was someone i was brought up to dislike. There was no explanation as to why, but I did. I heard in university for the first time that he was not even a biologist. He was a geologist. This was great news to my anti-evolutionary bias. Then I saw his science. I saw his experiments, I saw his methods and i saw his data. That man spent decades doing good science. He is a hero of mine now.
Anyone can do science .......but...... In 2013 at the very least, science must be done..... And done well.