Hyde says that the problem is that, although scientific facts are taught at school, the facts "about" science are not taught well enough.
Bingo. They do a poor job teaching people:
- That failures are not only expected, but welcome; they'll guide future successes.
- That conflicts of interest do happen, and peer reviewing is a way to address them.
- That the current leading theory on something is simply the current best explanation, not some immutable truth.
- That science doesn't say "trust me"; it shows you the data, and asks you to find a better way to explain it.
We (people all around the world, I think?) also do a poor job at teaching ourselves basic rationality:
- That you should get suspicious of any institution or group that only shows the good parts - they're likely hiding shit.
- Why "trust me" is an insult towards the hearer's intelligence.
- Why people shouldn't vomit certainty on things they cannot reliably know.