Someone saying “I do the socially normal thing with white lies” is reason to distrust what they say about science?
(I question the claim that this is merely an expression of normality but assume it for the sake of the answer.)
Yes, it is a reason to trust what they say about science less. The “socially normal” thing to do with respect to mentioning science is to be much more inclined to bring up findings that support one’s own preferred objectives than to bring up other things. It also involves a tendency to frame the science in the most personally favourable light.
An above normal obsession with epistemic accuracy and truthfulness (which is somewhat typical of people more intellectually inclined and more interested in science) ought to (all else being equal) make one more comfortable trusting someone talking about science. I, for example, often can’t help making references to findings and arguing against positions that could be considered “my side”. That political naivety and epistemic honesty at the expense of agenda is some degree of evidence. Possibly evidence that I can’t be trusted as a political ally on the social-perceptions battlefield but that I can be more useful as a raw information source.
Again, assume “all else being equal” is included in every second sentence above.
Yes.
(I question the claim that this is merely an expression of normality but assume it for the sake of the answer.)
Yes, it is a reason to trust what they say about science less. The “socially normal” thing to do with respect to mentioning science is to be much more inclined to bring up findings that support one’s own preferred objectives than to bring up other things. It also involves a tendency to frame the science in the most personally favourable light.
An above normal obsession with epistemic accuracy and truthfulness (which is somewhat typical of people more intellectually inclined and more interested in science) ought to (all else being equal) make one more comfortable trusting someone talking about science. I, for example, often can’t help making references to findings and arguing against positions that could be considered “my side”. That political naivety and epistemic honesty at the expense of agenda is some degree of evidence. Possibly evidence that I can’t be trusted as a political ally on the social-perceptions battlefield but that I can be more useful as a raw information source.
Again, assume “all else being equal” is included in every second sentence above.