From: dwagon	Date: May 23rd, 2006 01:20 pm (UTC)		(Link)

Interesting article, and one that I'd broadly agree with. Even if individual scientists can become dogmatic regarding 'pet' theories, science as a whole will eventually adopt a more correct theory, even if it does take a while (I think plate tectonics is one of the best examples of this - the geologists of the day largely shouted it down, but it has become *the* unifying theory for explaining so much of terrestial geography).

	From: vexen	Date: May 23rd, 2006 02:09 pm (UTC)		(Link)

Good example. I think the scientific community is wide and complex enough that competing interests serve as a strong source of innovation between old and new theories. There's nothing worse than your academic rival producing a better, more accurate theory than your own! A great big competition, evolution of the fittest (as in the way theories predict data that fit the results...) *ramble ramble*

Thanks for the comment :-)