Science and Scientific Hoaxes: The Importance of the Piltdown Man
Massimo Pigliucci explains in the January/February 2005 issue of Skeptical Inquirer that the Piltdown Man hoax is actually an illustration of the power of science, rather than of the problems in science as creationists so often claim:
Well, on the negative side, it is painfully clear that science depends on an assumption of honesty on the part of its practitioners. Peer review is focused on uncovering methodological or reasoning errors, not possible frauds. But since science is, after all, a human activity, egos, money, and the search for glory — however brief — are still to be reckoned with. As Piltdown and other forgeries have shown, scientists are continuously open to the possibility of someone fooling them by not playing by the rules of the game.
On the other hand, science is a social activity unlike any other that human beings engage in: it is a game of discovery played against a powerful but neutral opponent, nature itself. And nature cannot be fooled, at least not for long. The reason suspicions kept mounting about the true origin of the Piltdown remains was that the more paleontologists uncovered about human evolution, the less Dawn Man seem to fit with the rest of the puzzle.
In a sense, the very factor that made the acceptance of Eoanthropus dawsoni so fast in the beginning — because it seemed to be the much sought-after “missing link” in human evolution — was also the reason why, four decades later, scientists kept pursuing the possibility that it was not genuine after all. While four decades of delay may seem an inordinate amount of time, they are but the blink of an eye when compared to the history of the human quest for knowledge.
Moreover, it is important to note that it was scientists who uncovered the hoax, not creationists, which is both an immense credit to the self-correcting nature of science and yet another indication that creationism is only a religious doctrine with no power of discovery. [emphasis added]
It would be a mistake for science texts to ignore or downplay the Piltdown Man hoax. It was a very embarrassing event (especially for those involved), but at the same time it can be regarded as something to be proud of. Scientists were fooled, but they also figured out the fraud by using the standard tools of science. By doing what they were supposed to, the truth came out — and that’s the point of the scientific process and relying upon the scientific community. Mistakes are made and frauds will attempt to fool people, but in the end the truth always comes out.
The Piltdown Man also demonstrates that science doesn’t progress in an easy, straight line from ignorance to knowledge. Whether because of simple errors or malicious frauds, there are many dead ends and winding road which take us in the wrong direction for a while. Students need to understand that this will happen and be prepared for it. Progress will be achieved in the end, but the road is not easy and it must always be traversed using the scientific method, not religious faith.
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Comments
Someone needs to forward this article to Ann Coulter, who highlights the Piltdown Man hoax as just one more example of the lunacy of the religion of liberalism in her latest book, Godless.
Ann briefly mentions PM (along with gratuitous swipes at Helen Thomas, for some reason) as proof positive that evolution is nothing but a fraud to push God out of the public schools and the marketplace. Yes, her logic is “since this tiny portion is a fraud, the whole thing is fraudulent.”
Ann erects a very large tent, filled with all the people she disagrees with, no matter how far apart they are to each other, and she condemns them all. Are you a Christian who believes that God used evolution to produce life on earth? Congratulations. Have you ever voted for a Democrat? Do you think the War on Iraq was a diversion to the more important War on Al Quaeda? Congratulations. You are now a Godless, Atheist Liberal.
It must be comforting to see the world in such simple, black-and-white terms.
It is not to be denied that there are charlatans in the scientific community and they do a great deal of damage to the scientific and secular community. However, bigots like Ann Coulter should not use this to attack the whole scientific and secular community. The whole of Ann Coulters fascistic belief system is based on a gigantic falsification-her belief in bible, flag and country clearly falls into that category. I have looked in my families bible and nowhere does it say in that bible that God supports the extreme right, creationism, George Bush and Ann Coulter. The best recruiting sergeants for Islamic Fascism are people like Coulter. It is said that she is a very intellegent person; I doubt it. What sort of intellegence supports creationism and a literalist interpretation of the King James version of the bible. There is no evidence whatsoever for the existence of a supernatural being that created the universe and all that is in it. The simple fact is that evolution is a universal fact of life. Anne Coulter admires extreme rightwing figures, no doubt she admires Hitler. The Hagees, Robersons, Hinns and Coulter are delusioned demonic creatures, they are opposed to reason and logic. They belong in the dustbin of history.
>It is said that she is a very intellegent person; I doubt it. What sort of intellegence supports creationism and a literalist interpretation of the King James version of the bible
Err…that didn’t come out right.
[above quote goes here]
But she’s smart enough to be making a lot of money off of her followers. That counts for something, I think.
Yes, Triphesas, Coulter may make money out of her deluded followers. Is that the sign of a virtuous person? I think not. It just goes to prove that making money out of vulnerable people just shows how false Coulter and the fat Pastors are. To them literalist evangelical creationism is just a vehicle for making money rather than a sincere belief.
While I agree anyone who is opposed to reason an logic is in error, to call Hitler right wing is to utterly fail to understand that NAZIS were National Socialists. Socialism is left wing. In fact, Hitler was a very religios socialist. Properly, then, once should refer to him as such.
Richard: Hitler was a “socialist” as the Republicans are “Grand.” You do know, don’t you, that the real socialists were one of the first political parties outlawed and among the first political prisoners thrown in jail? You do know, don’t you, that he worked closely with industrial leaders?
You can be intelligent and delusional at the same time, you’d be surprised how many excuses you can make for others’ theories (and indeed, evolution does have it’s sticky points) while totally ignoring the major flaws in your own.
That, or she’s just doing it for fame and power, which I think is equally likely, even if subconcious.
As dumb as the majority of her statements are, she occasionally makes some good ones. Like those 9/11 millionaire widows, that was awesome
I love brutality like that.
It’s not “awesome” to accuse widows of having taken pleasure in their husbands’ deaths.
That’s very unethical.