a Mr Youse snip...
So then on a continuum of belief system/world view vs. truth with say 
global warming/climate change sitting at one end of the continuum and 
say the reality of gravity 

my comments...


first off I am guessing your belief system tells you there is a continuum here?  or is this simple a way to verbalize another false choice? < which is my way of suggesting that quite often the answer to question posed in this fashion is neither a nor b but quite often somewhere right in the middle or perhaps c.  there has certainly been a disagreement in regards to this argument which goes back to the ancient Greeks.  as a small read you might wish to consider picking up Betrand Russell 'History of Western Philosophy' which does a pretty good job of historically looking at this question.  it has been a while since I picked up that fine book but I do seem to recall that since the time of Einstein the basic idea of science searching for truth (a true description of reality) is not faring so well as an intellectual idea.  folks like Jim Fischer I guess could define, via some simple equation, gravity but Einstein informed us that there are exceptions.

from my casual observation here 'science' as a word is thought to convey status and perhaps in some occasions a higher pay check.  it is quite often used like a weapon to define those academic pursuits which are 'not science' and thereby attempting to hoard resources in an increasingly competitive (in terms of resources but rarely talent) environment.  so basically the idea of science as a searcher for truth is good marketing but weak thinking.      

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