Why believe in science instead of inventing your own theory from scratch?

[FreethinkingSceptic]

It seems like it would be more fun to invent your own theory of the universe completely from scratch then merely believing in what is taught as existing scientific knowledge.

I mean, that's what prominent scientists did. Newton wasn't born into a world where gravity was established knowledge. He had to invent it completely from scratch.

But maybe some people would rather just play Minecraft.

[Sargon The Grape]

Newton didn't simply invent gravity out of his head, he followed the evidence and published a theory that fit said evidence and made useful predictions. Inventing your own theory of the universe, assuming you also followed the evidence, would take you to the same conclusion as any other scientist.

In fact, that's essentially how the sciences are taught at the college level: students are tasked with independently verifying that theories work and produce accurate, useful results.