I think everyone needs to realize that there is an objective reality, and there's one's personal reality that involves one's own psyche. The reason great scientists are respected is because other people realize that they have done an outstanding job finding out about *objective reality* through experimentation and evidence based research. Great *thinkers* can also have a deep understanding of our subjective (personal) realities, but to understand the world as a scientist stake's his reputation on, it's all about the laws of nature outside oneself :)