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Does it “make sense” because it's in textbooks, or is it in textbooks because it “makes sense”? Time and again, “real scientists” act like teenage pop star fan
by ogurechny 3y ago
Does it “make sense” because it's in textbooks, or is it in textbooks because it “makes sense”?
Time and again, “real scientists” act like teenage pop star fans when something is established as “making sense”. I'm not even talking about politically important issues or personal gains from being part of some “school”, just something that is “generally accepted”… until it is not.
For example, mass extinction event after an asteroid impact is such an enormous media icon that a lot of scientists merely work on decorating it. From the very beginning, there was evidence that extinction was neither short nor had a single peak, but it was routinely dismissed as “local variations” or without any reason at all, simply because it made things more complex.
Too many people solve the problem actually stated as “What if everything we believe is true, which models should we invent to support it?” It is important to think whether you are studying something, or just gathering the pieces in a pre-defined manner.