A better way to challenge scientific consensus

Executive summary

In this article, I suggest a simple way to resolve scientific disagreements on important issues.

The method is simple:

1. The two parties mutually agree on a series of experiments to resolve the conflict.
2. The experiments are designed so the results are reproducible, for example, by having several independent efforts doing the same thing.
3. Win or lose, the “mainstream view” party (who should be led by a prominent scientist in the field being explored) agrees to write up the results of the experiment(s) and submit it to a prominent peer-reviewed technical journal.
4. The “mainstream” party gets a large monetary award (a research grant) upon publication. The more prestigious the author, the higher the reward.
5. We pay all costs in addition to the reward for people’s time and to fund the experiment(s).
6. The idea is to make this “an offer that nobody can refuse.”

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