During an interview with a newspaper reporter recently, I was asked a common question: "Do you feel like we're losing the battle? That people are increasingly turning away from science and towards woo-woo?" And I answered, as I always answer, "No."

While it's true that the anti-vax movement could do some real harm to society, and that so-called Intelligent Design could make its way into text books, we have one thing going for us that they will never have.

But before I answer what that is, I have to define "we" and "they."

"We," of course, are the skeptics. But more than that, we are those who wish to believe what is real. We are truth-seekers, explorers, modifiers, and we are often wrong. We will never have all the answers, but those answers that we do have will best fit the available data. When new data appears, we will abandon our belief for a new one.

"They" are the believers. They are those who wish to believe what they believe, for a variety of reasons. They have all the answers, or at least most of them. When new, contrary data appears, it will be hammered into shape, discredited or discarded.

And why we will win is this: if you take all scientific knowledge and purge it from the public mind through some sort of multi-generational cultural revolution or societal collapse, all the data will still be there. It may be forgotten, but it can always be rediscovered by a curious person observing something and thinking "Hmm, I wonder how that works." The truth (reality) can't be destroyed. The idea that water has memory can be destroyed, never to return.

But what is "winning" in this apparently eternal struggle? In fact, there is no "winning" here. If we are successful, "they" and "we" will end up believing exactly the same things. Strangely, that's "their" goal too. The major difference is, "we" will change and "they" will not. And if they're right, eventually we'll be on their side and still true to our ideals. If they're wrong, their ideas will eventually wither and die.

Believers and skeptics may end up coming to the same conclusions, with both sides declaring victory. That would be a wondrous day. And as long as the skeptics stayed true to the principle of always changing beliefs based on evidence, we all will truly have won.

In the meantime, it's back into the trenches to educate people about the incredible value of vaccines, the danger of homeopathy, and the hucksters who call themselves "psychic." For the believers, your task is very simple. Show us the data. If you have it, we'll happily meet in the middle and shake hands.