TIL that the discovery of oil as a fuel was an environmental miracle for whales as it made hunting whales for their oil far less competitive.

In fairness, I know a fair few scientists (girlfriend is a biology lecturer/researcher, brother is an environmental scientist, his girlfriend is a lecturer that does genetics research) and if they (or their friends/co-workers) tell me something about their field I will take their word for it. I might research it out of interest, but it's never to ensure I haven't been misled.

Such an appeal to authority isn't always right, but it has a damn good chance of not being wrong. Experts in their field are a pretty good source of knowledge. Why not listen to those who have studied it. You'll generally do better listening to them than struggling through a topic on your own.

Scientists arent stupid and they generally go well out of their way to ensure they don't mislead others. If his mother is indeed a geologist, and he's brought up the topic, he might just have a fair idea what he's talking about.

Amd whilst annoying, a call for people to look further in to anything is rarely a bad idea (even if it's often suggested by dickheads).

/r/todayilearned Thread Parent Link - edf.org