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Sustainedscientific debate, sometimesscientific controversy[1] orpersistent disagreement,[2] is any a substantial disagreement amongscientists. A scientific controversy may involve issues such as the interpretation ofdata, which ideas are most supported byevidence, and which ideas are most worth pursuing.[1]
Controversies between scientific and non-scientific ideas are not within the realm of science and are not true scientific controversies.[3] A genuine scientific controversy entails an ongoing discussion within the wider scientific community.[4] Well known examples include the debate overthe existence of the atom that lasted until the turn of the 20th century, theBohr–Einstein debates, thelinguistics wars, or the debate over thecauses of ADHD.
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Scientific discourse happens almost exclusively in writing. Before speaking on a conference, scientists will have written on their subject. Everything prior to writing is usually consideredscientific research.
In the situation of even presenting clear and scientifically proven evidence, people will always have their own opinion. "Controversy can be rooted in differing beliefs and values; personal, political, social, and economic interests; fears; and moral and ethical considerations—all of which are central to decisions and typically subject to public debate".[5]
As described above, individuals have their opinions based on various subjects such as culture, history, ethics, morals, religion, and more. This leads the stance on certain scientific topics to be very different across the board as perceptions vary from person to person, this is the ultimate reason why scientific controversy exists, to begin with. Science-related controversies often follow similar characteristics.
With science being inconclusive in itself, it leads to a disconnect between individuals. Oftentimes, science gets roped into personal morals and social values which leads to contrasting ideas.[6] This arises the issue of communicating science in an appropriate manner. Listed below, there are some of the various examples of scientific controversies.
