I think this is one of the big disconnects caused by a lack of good scientific education. A scientist’s default state is “I don’t know.” The rest of our institutions, if you say “I don’t know”, they want to kick you out of office, fire you, or call you incompetent.

Truth is discovered step wise, little by little, with lots of groping around in the dark. But our society seems allergic to the concept of not having all the answers served up to us on a dinner plate.

Carl Sagan often was asked, “Do you believe there’s extraterrestrial life” He’d answer, he didn’t know and explain what the data was. The questioner would usually press him asking, “but what’s your gut feeling?”. Here’s his reply:

  But I try not to think with my gut. If I'm serious about understanding the world, thinking with anything besides my brain, as tempting as that might be, is likely to get me into trouble.