Schuyler
Misanthrope
True enough, and as I stated, I don't have an issue with the scientific method itself, but with its implementation and evocation. I'm suggesting that scientists, in general and as a homogeneous group, do not actually follow the scientific method when something turns up that defies their belief structure. The examples I used of the reception given to Tectonic Plate theory and John Mack are, unfortunately, not isolated incidents, but are more common than not. Scientists, including those most knowledgeable in their fields, turn out to be terribly short-sighted. More examples:
George Zweig, the first guy to come up with the idea of quarks, was refused a university position and ostracized for bringing up the idea.
In the 1800s, the idea of rocks falling from the sky (meteorites) was treeated like UFOs are today.
In 1879 an archaeologist from Spain, Marcelino Sanz de Sautuola, discovered prehistoric cave art and suggested it ws done by the same pre-ice age period people as made the artifacts found in the cave. 'For the rest of his life he was brutally ridiculed, shunned, and his reputation smeared by the French-influenced scientific orthodoxy of the time.'(1) He was right, of course.
"There is not the slightest indication that nuclear energy will ever be obtainable. It would mean that the atom would have to be shattered at will." (Albert Einsetin, 1932)
"The bomb will never go off. I speak as an expert on explosives." Adm Leahy, US Atomic Bomb Project.
"Louis Pasteur's theory of germs is ridiculous fiction." Pierre Pachet, Prof. of Physiology at Toulouse, 1872.
"This 'telephone' has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us." --Western Union, 1876
"I see no good reasons why the views given in this volume should shock the religious sensibilities of anyone." -- Charles Darwin, the Origin of Species, 1859
"The aeroplane will never fly." -- Lord Haldane, Minister of War, Britain, 1907. Note: The Wright Brothers flew at Kitty Hawk in 1903.
"There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in his home." -- Ken Olson, CEO, Digital Equipment Corp. 1977. DEC was one of the most succesful computer companies in the world until Compaq Computers (which made the first luggable portable PC) bought the remains of DEC.
(1) Examples were compiled by Jim Elvidge, author of 'The Universe Solved,' pp 146-147, which I just happened to read (synchronicity?) after my former post.
Obviously there are more examples. This happens so much and so often that I think it is fair to conclude that, as a practical matter, that's how the 'scientific method' works in real life. It is invoked often enough, but it's lip service. What I would like to say to those who invoke it is, 'If you really like it so much, why don't you try using it?'
I in no way support Bassett or his positions at all. Indeed, the Disclosure Project is the epitome of a Cargo Cult. (THANKS for that reference. $120 for the book, but I found the article online at Google Books.) But I am reminded of the movie 'Hook' (with Robin Williams and Dustin Hoffman) where Peter Pan has his nose stuck in the materialistic world (He's become a pirate) to the point that his wife suggests to him, "Peter, you are missing it!" If one uses the scientific method as an excuse to NOT look at areas that do not lend themselves well to that sort of research (at least at first glance), then promising avenues of exploration will be missed. You're gonna miss the turn and not even know it.
