Who is an authority when studying the science of consciousness and the soul?

When we want to know something, there are three ways in which we can find out or come to a conclusion. They are as follows:

Direct evidence
Inference
Hearing from authority

Science is based on direct evidence which comes from experimentation. That’s how we are able to make planes and bridges and all the engineering feats, among other things. We study the properties of matter and then work with it to shape our desired results.