Why is it that if someone tells you that there are 1 billion stars in the universe you will believe them,but

Why is it that if someone tells you that there are 1 billion stars in the universe you will believe them, but if they tell you a wall has wet paint you will have to touch it to be sure?

Because the paint is in reach.

"And I don't believe that there a billion stars. It's a figure that people use to highlight how fantastically large the universe is."

Actually, claiming that there are a billion stars is a terribly poor way of highlighting how fantastically large the universe is. Even claiming that there are a *trillion* is a woeful underestimate, by atleast a could hundred billion times.

Because people are more inclined to dispute things they feel able to dispute, than matters where someone else can claim much greater expertise.

It's for the same reason that a committee will have no problem signing off a proposal for a nuclear power station, assuming it to have been looked at by experts and believing that it's too complex for them to valuably comment on, but will bicker over the colour to paint a bike shed, as that is something they feel they understand.

(BTW, there are FAR, FAR more than a billion stars in the universe.)

Nah, I'd believe them that the paint is wet. And I don't believe that there a billion stars. It's a figure that people use to highlight how fantastically large the universe is.

So really, you're comparing a very mundane claim (wet paint) with a very theoretical and representative claim (1 billion stars in the universe).

Because you can observe stars without the sense of touch, whereas by simply looking at a wall you cannot determine its "wetness"

And anyway, there are over 10 Billion Trillion stars in the Universe. And those are only the ones we can observe.

Because the wet paint theory is readily testable.

Whoever told you there are one billion stars did not know what they were talking about

Silly Troll, Trix are for Kids.