How do you think the oil/dairy/meat lobbyists having one guy in a lab coat challenge mountains of scientists in a lab coat works? People just don’t investigate deeply, assume all parties are acting in good faith, see that there is any disagreement between people who seem knowledgeable, call it a draw and walk away.

i mean, you’re describing science, not industry-captured science. you make progress by challenging the existing models, either improving the models or finding better ones. overwhelming ego and bad faith are difficult to distinguish between, and well i’ve known a lot of scientists.