And yet, somehow we've created science and a pretty large civilization by being able to argue points rationally and logically and not always being convinced solely by rhetoric. So my counterpoint to your "it does not reliably answer..." is the fact that we are having this argument on the fucking internet.

That's why this system relies on convincing smart, educated people and not just people in general. The need for intellectual discourse to avoid this exact problem and what that looks like is taught as part of being educated.