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A critical term describing how some online science communication communities and self‑styled science communicators adopt behaviors indistinguishable from religious zealotry: dogmatic adherence to certain theories (even as they evolve), hostility toward dissent, excommunication of heretics, and a missionary zeal to convert the “unscientific.” They speak of “believing in science,” treat scientific consensus as infallible scripture, and frame any questioning as moral failing rather than intellectual inquiry. Scientific fanaticism mistakes the authority of science for the authority of scientists, and turns a method of inquiry into a rigid belief system. It is especially visible in online debates where “science says so” ends conversation rather than opening it.
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