In one of his blog entries, Dr. Jerry Coyne asks the following question:
Sometimes I wonder why this small pack of loonies thinks that so many scientists—certainly at least 95% of biologists—are so deluded as to believe in Darwinism? Are we all simply victims of a 150-year hoax, a hoax involving fields as diverse as embryology, geology, morphology, genetics, biochemistry, and biogeography—all of which erroneously point to the same conclusions? Or do they think it’s a vast conspiracy in which scientists in their smoke-filled labs meet to push a theory that’s knowingly wrong—perhaps as a way to attain our real goal: universal atheism?
Not surprisingly, the correct answer isn’t given by Coyne. He is not the victim of a hoax, nor is he part of some wild conspiracy. Instead, he and those like him are simply stuck in a failed paradigm.
Someone who knows a lot about how people can be stuck in a failed paradigm is Dr. Patricia Adair Gowaty. She is the lead author of the study that demonstrated the flaws in the experiment used to construct the now-debunked Bateman’s Principle. Here’s how she sees the effect of paradigms:
Paradigms are like glue, they constrain what you can see…It’s like being stuck in sludge — it’s hard to lift your foot out and take a step in a new direction.
That’s why people like Jerry Coyne are so hopelessly devoted to evolution. They are stuck in its sludge, and they simply can’t take a step in a new direction, regardless of the fact that the data are clearing pointing that way.
One might have equally asked Galileo how the majority of astronomers in his day could be wrong in believing the earth was in the center of the universe. It does not require a vast conspiracy to be wrong, only the natural tendency of human beings to hold on to their familiar paradigms.
The proper mix of skepticism and open-mindedness is a tough one to achieve, to be sure.
So true, W. Brown. That’s why science often self-corrects slowly. Most scientists don’t have the proper mix.
So that’s why it took me so long to get out of creationism and to see Evolutionary theory in the correct light! I was stuck in a failed paradigm!
Actually, Keith, I think you stepped out of a working paradigm and fell into one that has you stuck!
I read Coyne’s blog because he is a major voice on the other side, and I think you need to read all sides of the issue.
Why do you even bother with reading blog’s like Coyne?
What I mean is that something like this that Coyne says is even not worth responding to as it is just venting, insulting and ad hominem. Also in thinking that the paradigm is broken isn’t it the case when a paradigm shift is about to occur, things don’t start to make sense and there is need of a breakthrough in order for advancement in science to be accomplished. As I see it there is plenty of advancement biologists are able to accomplish within the paradigm of evolutionary theory. What think you of YEC Todd Wood’s stance? I share the link below…. Wasn’t sure how to insert links…… http://toddcwood.blogspot.com/2009/09/truth-about-evolution.html
While I agree that Coyne is not worth responding to, his question (how could we all be wrong?) is common among evolutionists. That’s why I pointed out Dr. Gowaty’s answer.
While Dr. Wood clearly knows a lot about genetics, he couldn’t be more wrong about the evidence for evolution. Evolution IS a theory in crisis. It IS teetering on the verge of collapse, and it HAS failed as a scientific explanation. That’s why so many scientists (see here and here, for example) are leaving it.