On Fri, 12 Dec 2003 23:25:28 -0000, "Alastair McDonald"
k wrote:


When it was first proposed that a meteorite had wiped out the dinosaurs there
was similar opposition to that theory, as there is to this one!

It can be very difficult for scientists to adjust to a new hypothesis.
Many of them work intently on specialised details and "can't see the wood
for the trees". That is not a criticism - just a fact.

There is also the problem that specialists can form incorrect views of
matters outside their specialisms. They can be remarkably ignorant of
*anything* other than their own subjects[1]. (I spent about 30 years in
universities and saw this first-hand!)

Look at one paragraph in the NS article:

quote
Geochemist Jeff Severinghaus at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in
San Diego, California, is wary. "I think it's very interesting," he says,
"but very speculative. I doubt that ancient humans could have done that."
/quote

The man is a geochemist. He possibly has no worthwhile knowledge of the
activities and effects of ancient humans. It is a big mistake to
underestimate the power of humans given enough time and need.

[1] They usually have a second specialised skill - filling in application
forms for grants. That is a survival skill.
--
Peter Duncanson
UK