Nine Crazy Ideas in Science

I've been reading Robert Ehrlich's _Nine Crazy Ideas in Science_ in which he dissects nine controversial scientific theories. None of them involve paleoanthropology unfortunately, but even so the introduction at least should be required reading for this group. Two passages from Ehrlich's introduction struck me as very descriptive of some of our more prolific members. See who you think of then you read these:

"When proposers of crazy new ideas are rebuffed by their peers, they sometimes develop obsessions about their idea and refuse to abandon them, even when proven to be incompatible with observation. The negative reaction of peers stimulates the proposer to do everything possible to prove colleagues wrong, even if it means being insufficiently critical about the merits of the idea itself. A key indicator here is the proposer's selectivity in paying great attention to facts that may support the idea, but paying scant attention to facts that refute it."

"Some proposers of new controversial ideas tend to cite heavily their own previous work and ignore related work done by others. Science is built progressively on the work of many scientists. As Isaac Newton wrote in 1675, 'If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.' It is not sufficient that a theorist demonstrate familiarity with other relevant work and cite it in any publication. We must also verify that the cited references, in fact, state what the proposer claims, and the degree to which it is claimed. We should be highly suspicious when the proposer of a new theory claims that others have demonstrated something, when the references cited in fact make no such claim or perhaps merely suggest it could be true."

Lorenzo L. Love
http://home.thegrid.net/~lllove

"One must not assume that an understanding of science is present in those who borrow its language"
Louis Pasteur

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