Skepticism about certainty does not justify refusing to act on evidence

Evidence

Does this mean that industry critics of the scientific consensus on CFCs and ozone had a point? Scientists did not (could not) have enough evidence to be certain—and science has had such a dismal track record of discovering lasting truths that we can hardly take the scientists’ word if they say they have gotten it right this time. Surely caution about accepting new scientific findings is always in order. … Not quite. Perhaps we can never be certain about anything, but that does not mean we cannot be more or less confident—or that we cannot gather evidence and use it to make informed decisions. We might, for instance, become very, very confident that CFCs are creating a hole in our ozone layer. With the right sorts of evidence we might become so confident that the line between this sort of evidentially grounded belief and absolute certainty is, for our purposes, meaningless. — Cailin O’Connor and James Owen Weatherall, The Misinformation Age, 101

Categorization

• XREF: The case-control move of reassigning uncertainty to different decision contexts connects to the chapter’s later claim that misinformation, not skepticism, is the real threat. — connects to: Enough confidence to guide action suffices; absolute certainty is not needed — Cailin O’Connor and James Owen Weatherall, The Misinformation Age: How False…, 104; Industry disinformation demanded impossible certainty regardless of accumulated evidence — Cailin O’Connor and James Owen Weatherall, The Misinformation Age: How False…, 94; Epistemic assurance rests on doubt, not certainty — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying: The New…, 272 (+5 more)
• recurring: this claim recurs 2 times within its source

Broader Connections

• Theoretical doubts about objective truth need not override practical reliance on evidence #corroborates (0.95) — Lee McIntyre, Post-Truth, 50
• Convergent correlational evidence should justify action absent perfect scientific certainty #corroborates (0.92) — Harriet A. Washington, A Terrible Thing to Waste, 50
• One cannot be obligated to trust in the absence of supporting evidence. #contradicts (0.80) — Russell Hardin, Trust and Trustworthiness, 306
• A belief is an accepted assertion lacking absolute proof but prompting action #corroborates (0.75) — Ruggero J. Aldisert, Agatha D. Aldisert, Logic for Lawyers- A Guide to Clear…, 239
• Epistemic assurance rests on doubt, not certainty #complicates (0.72) — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 272