Unorthodox Science

John J. Ray has a couple of letters on the problems of supporters of eccentric scientific opinions in getting a hearing. One problem is that the current institutional structure of science is designed to reward people with clear proof that the old theory is wrong. Falsifying a generally accepted theory will win you a Nobel Prize. Reminding people that a commonly-accepted theory has inadequate evidence either for or against will get you almost nowhere. It will alienate those members of the Scientific Establishment who really are bigots and—what's worse—it will bore the rest.

That also means critics of the current theory should not exaggerate the amount of evidence against it. If there really is a large amount of evidence against an Establishment theory, the Establishment will not only come out against it, but even find a way to blame conservatives for it.