I think what Kidd was saying is that it is scienticists (followers of scientism or scienticism) who do that, not the scientists. Of course a scientist could possibly be a scienticist at the same time.jayjacobus wrote: ↑Fri Mar 30, 2018 4:58 pm I don't think that Kidd is saying that scientific methods are wrong. He is saying that some (many?) scientists "go too far, promise too much, neglect or forget other things that matter, and so overstate, exaggerate, and distort."
The scientist, who thinks he is extra special because he is a scientist, will denigrate non-scientists because they are non-scientists, not because they are wrong.
If he says that scientists "go too far, promise too much, neglect or forget other things that matter, and so overstate, exaggerate, and distort." then Kidd is plain wrong. Scientists report observed facts and they draw conclusions from that. If they neglect or forget other things that matter, then those other things are not matters of science, so they are rightful in neglecting or forgetting them.
Scientists (and I think we can include secularists and atheists) denigrate non-scientists only if they say stupid things and assume that they are true, and everyone must believe it. Which is, by-and-large, religious dogma or its derivatives. I am sure it hurts the religious when that happens, but hey, they had their heydays in the middle ages, things change, now it's the secularists' turn to rule.
Wait long enough, and it will become again a world where reason is suppressed, and religion will dominate.
Nothing lasts forever.