Claim d1b83c10Checked 09 Jul 2026
TrueOn the truth scale
“We have seen this in science.”
Reasoning & Evidence09 Jul 2026
The claim is broadly true: the history of science includes cases where an established view was later overturned by stronger evidence. The Nobel Prize committee notes that peptic ulcers were long attributed to stress and diet, but Marshall and Warren’s work showed they are often caused by Helicobacter pylori and was initially met with great skepticism. USGS likewise describes plate tectonics as a 1960s scientific revolution that was verified and refined into a widely accepted theory. So, as a general statement that we have seen this kind of reversal in science, the claim is supported. Sources: NobelPrize.org, “Award ceremony speech” (https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2005/ceremony-speech/); U.S. Geological Survey, “This dynamic earth: the story of plate tectonics” (https://www.usgs.gov/publications/dynamic-earth-story-plate-tectonics).
From article
How can the entire political class be wrong? Well, they were all wrong about Hitler, weren’t they? Out of 600 MPs, there were 20 [who raised the alarm] – and do you know what they were called? Warmongers. Eccentrics. They were lampooned; they were considered to be mad. Even when Churchill produced the data [about German rearmament], the political class looked away.
You know, we’ve seen it in science, we’ve seen it in business: even if the status quo is pointing in entirely the wrong direction, it exerts a very strong force on the political class – and the more career-orientated our politicians are, the stronger it is.
Sources opened+ 45 search hits considered
| [1] | nobelprize.org |