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This gives off the vibe of a scientist throwing themselves off an epistemic cliff in order to sell a book.
by phreeza 4y ago
This gives off the vibe of a scientist throwing themselves off an epistemic cliff in order to sell a book.
- mjburgess 4y agoOften called "retirement".
- Apocryphon 4y agoArthur C. Clarke claimed there were forests of banyan trees on Mars: https://www.popsci.com/military-aviation-space/article/2001-12/banyan-trees-mars/ https://www.popsci.com/military-aviation-space/article/2001-...
- kuhewa 4y agoI think it's just when you retire, look back at the who enterprise of your discipline and decide life doesn't need to all be so grave, and decide it's time to have some fun with that one pet theory you heard about on field expeditions.
- phreeza 4y agoI mean it's cute if you phrase it like that but it becomes a problem when it is used as part of the narrative that established science is corrupt and hiding the truth, coupled with the profit motive getting book sales/podcast ads etc.
- kuhewa 4y agoI'm being serious, I'm sure thats what happened here. I doubt the guy is just knowingly grifting for book sales, he probably just held onto this idea as a pet theory during his career and sort of compartmentalized it from his primary academic work. edit: considering he was an interpretivist cultural anthropologist, that appears to be the case, its not like he spent a career studying hominid fossils. That said this is cryptozoology stuff is (relatively) harmless compared to the more common emeritus meteorologist/physicist that uses his credentials to explain to those primed to listen why anthropogenic climate change is bullshit