I do believe MattG claimed otherwise.
I think you can only reach that conclusion by applying your preferred definition of "science" to MattG's statement about science. That's a mistake unless you know he's not using a substantially different definition.
that trust is conditional
Yes, of course. (Did anyone suggest it's not?)
For the avoidance of doubt, I am not for a minute suggesting blind or unquestioning trust of scientific consensus; at least, not for scientists. (It is possible that below some threshold of scientific competence blind trust is in fact the best available strategy.)
What do you mean by "carefully rational"?
I mean what happens if the Bobs in my thought experiment, rather than arriving at their opinions informally and qualitatively, think explicitly about what they've heard and read and about how much evidence each thing they've heard or read provides, and determine their own opinions by deliberate reflection on that (not necessarily by actual calculation, but with that always available in cases of doubt).
This might well not be an improvement (e.g., because System 1 has hardware support that System 2 doesn't) but it's not obvious that it isn't.
How is that better than the baseline "show me"?
"Carefully rational" isn't a proposed replacement for "show me", it's a proposed replacement for things like "I've read about this in a few papers so I'll assume it's true" (which probably doesn't get said explicitly very often, of course).
"Show me" is always there (usually in the background) as an option. Most scientists, most of the time, don't go banging on other scientists' lab doors demanding further evidence for what's in their papers. Most scientists, most of the time, don't attempt to replicate other scientists' results before (at least provisionally) accepting them.
(One reason is that replication and door-banging take effort. This is also an argument against the more explicit "carefully rational" approach I think MattG is advocating.)
I fail to discern your point. There is a lot of clarifications, adjustments, and edge-nibbling, but what is it that you want to say?
Cross-posted from my blog here.
One of the greatest successes of mankind over the last few centuries has been the enormous amount of wealth that has been created. Once upon a time virtually everyone lived in grinding poverty; now, thanks to the forces of science, capitalism and total factor productivity, we produce enough to support a much larger population at a much higher standard of living.
EAs being a highly intellectual lot, our preferred form of ritual celebration is charts. The ordained chart for celebrating this triumph of our people is the Declining Share of People Living in Extreme Poverty Chart.
(Source)
However, as a heretic, I think this chart is a mistake. What is so great about reducing the share? We could achieve that by killing all the poor people, but that would not be a good thing! Life is good, and poverty is not death; it is simply better for it to be rich.
As such, I think this is a much better chart. Here we show the world population. Those in extreme poverty are in purple – not red, for their existence is not bad. Those who the wheels of progress have lifted into wealth unbeknownst to our ancestors, on the other hand, are depicted in blue, rising triumphantly.
Long may their rise continue.