Question: How important is it that you explain your theories accurately? Can the explanation of a theory affect its likelihood of people supporting the idea?

Matt Bawn answered on 13 Mar 2018:

Very important. Yes the explanation could affect how people support it. Maybe not so much in a paper where the authors have to spend a lot of time making sure they explain everything extremely carefully and then reviewers also read it to check it makes sense before its published, but I would say during talks yes. Scientists give talks quite a lot and basically that means they stand at the front of a room and explain their research to tens or hundreds of other scientists who may or may not work in similar fields. This is often the first time the scientist has shared their ideas publically and so they may not be complete yet. A lot of the time how well your ideas come accross depends more on how confidently you present it rather than the actual content.