This makes me sad. Also it makes me not believe anything "scientists say." So is it a good thing or a bad thing that nobody cares what reasonably educated non-experts like myself think?
It is just like anything else, for example politics. Many politicians have strong convictions and care about the electorate and outcomes (I have several politician friends).
But when push comes to shove, keeping their job and food on the table for their families comes first. So ethical compromises are made.
Similarly, for tech people and privacy. I would wager there are dozens if not hundreds here on HN who have raised concerns with management about the privacy implications of something they're being requested to build. Management says, build it anyway. Programmer reluctantly complies because they like their job.
WRT science it is obvious that it works over the long term. But in the short term it can be quite nasty. So I would say if you are a member of the public, you can safely believe something scientists have said for a long time without controversy, like the helical structure of DNA, but new or controversial findings should be taken with a large grain of salt.
