When your child asks why she should brush her teeth, do we ever simply say “because the science says to”?

Of course not. That’s ridiculous. While your kid is really trying to get out of brushing her teeth, she is also doing so because she doesn’t have any context for oral health. She hasn’t seen with her own eyes good teeth being pulled because they weren’t cared for. She has no idea of the stakes.

But that isn’t why you don’t say “the science, that’s why” in response to her.

You feel comfortable treating a fair question like it is honest. And you have a fair answer. You want her to have healthy teeth. So she needs to brush them every day to get the gunk off of them.

“The science” is a truly terrible answer. For anything. When you use it, both people think you don’t know what you’re talking about.

While there are plenty of people who are denying scientific evidence, misusing data, and listening to crackpots, it doesn’t help to skip over the most logical response in favor of the easy.

And yes, there are often a lot of things you could say. And yes, much of the opposition to important initiatives falls under a blanket of skepticism toward the scientific evidence. But “the science” sounds like you either know nothing or are hiding something. Being direct or clear is better.

If nothing else, being able to say what you think “the science” says is a skill worth developing. And maybe that alone will give others something to think about.