Comment Done? Silly humans, you're missing 95% of it! (Score 1) 759
Dark matter, dark energy -- keep these concepts in mind before you speak so confidently about the extent of human knowledge or Science's map of Reality. I've said it before and i'll say it again -- the human need of the scientist to remain the arbiter of what IS is the biggest barrier to fundamental developments in science. Individually it's psychological, collectively it's sociological; in both scopes there's a resistance to the idea of reconsidering or abandoning an supposed Knowledge, despite the pressure of anamolous observation, because the individual or collective ego is threatened with annihilation by such a change.
But Reality doesn't care if your model is incomplete. Edison summarily dismissed AC power systems as impractical, even dangerous, even after Tesla had succesfully developed the theory and practice of polyphase AC, because Edison's ego was heavily invested in DC systems. He ended up licensing and selling AC systems because Edison was above all a businessman. If he'd been an academic, say, whose career was built on the idea that AC power was untenable, perhaps he would have gone to his grave defending DC.
But Reality doesn't care if your model is incomplete. Edison summarily dismissed AC power systems as impractical, even dangerous, even after Tesla had succesfully developed the theory and practice of polyphase AC, because Edison's ego was heavily invested in DC systems. He ended up licensing and selling AC systems because Edison was above all a businessman. If he'd been an academic, say, whose career was built on the idea that AC power was untenable, perhaps he would have gone to his grave defending DC.
