Helloplite on 03 June 2017
From a scientist/academic: science is not about consensus per se, but peer review and peer approval. What this means is that your thesis must be repeatable independently (ie you run the data, test the hypothesis, and the outcome is the same and independent of any observer bias or error).
When many experiments prove the same hypothesis through independent measurements, you have the so called consensus which is nothing but the verification of the claimed relation between the variables investigated.
It is not about 'democracy'. Scientists don't vote on what they believe is going on. They measure it.
