ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Scientific consensus

Do you know how sometimes when you go to bed, your mom tells you to brush your teeth first? And your dad tells you to read a book before falling asleep? Everyone has different opinions on what you should do before bedtime, right?

But imagine if all moms and dads agreed that brushing your teeth is really important before bedtime, and that reading a book is a good idea too. This means they all have the same opinion on what is best for you before you sleep. This is just like how scientific consensus works!

Scientists are like the moms and dads of the world of science, and they help us understand how things work in the world around us. Just like your parents give you advice on what to do, scientists use research and studies to figure out the best ways to answer questions about nature, the environment, and human health.

Through experimentation, observation, and a lot of hard work, scientists eventually come up with ideas or theories about how things work. But not every scientist will agree on the same theory, just like not every mom and dad will agree on everything.

However, if lots and lots of scientists from different parts of the world and with different specialties all agree on one theory, then that theory becomes what we call a “scientific consensus”. This means that they all have the same opinion on what is most likely true based on the evidence they have gathered.

For example, scientists have a scientific consensus that the Earth is getting warmer due to human activity. This means that a lot of scientists from all around the world have looked at the evidence, and they all agree that human activity such as burning fossil fuels is causing the Earth’s temperature to rise.

So, scientific consensus is when lots of scientists agree on something based on the evidence they have gathered. Just like you listen to your parents’ advice, we should also pay attention to scientific consensus because it gives us the best understanding of how things work in the world around us.