Random opinions vs Real Science: Do they carry similar weight?

Principles of Scientific Inquiry Remain Most Important

Society must continue to protect the ability of a given individual to express his or her opinion. The opinion of another person, however, must never share the same spotlight with factual information that was obtained and validated using the principles of scientific inquiry. We must continue to protect the access of the world to accurate information.

We can respect the view of a person who says that they believe the world is flat but we would never accept this view to permeate the classrooms and textbooks of our children.  Similarly we can respect the view of a person who says that they believe a certain treatment for hair loss will help. However, without proof, we must never accept this view to permeate the classrooms and textbooks of our health care providers and the magazines and media sources of the public. It is a dangerous and slippery slope when opinions of others shares similar influence as validated science.