 Any tendency we might have to think scientists do fully accept theories may simply be the result of the social role the scientists play as explainers of those theories (as also noted in § 1.7 above). In that role, the scientists “answer questions ex cathedra ” (van Fraassen 2007, 12), in a manner that the unsophisticated listener might mistakenly perceive as a display of unqualified confidence in and acceptance of the theories’ empirical adequacy. The reality is more subtle—the acceptance is almost always a qualified one. 