[9급 지방직 영어 2026년 20번]

Most of us put a lot of stock in what scientists tell us because we know that scientists reach their conclusions by gathering and analyzing facts. If someone asked you why you believe that smoking is bad and jogging is good, or that the earth is round and the galaxy is flat, you would point to the facts. You might need to explain that you do not personally know the facts to which you are pointing, but that you do know that at some time in the past, a bunch of very earnest people in white lab coats went out and watched the world, wrote down what they looked into, analyzed what they wrote down, and then told the rest of us what to believe. Scientists are credible because they draw conclusions from _____________, and ever since the empiricists trumped the dogmatists* and became the kings of ancient Greek medicine, westerners have had a special reverence for conclusions that are based on things they can see.

* dogmatist: 교조주의자