01/12/2025
Why doesn't mainstream science recognize a major flood at 3520 B.C.? (From Season 2, Episode 11)
Dr. Aardsma:
I think it is true that most scientists today are highly specialized and that means that they don't really look at the big picture most of the time. That means that the big picture tends to just be accepted and everybody contributes to building the big picture from their own little sphere. Not very many people are brave enough to venture into a radically different area, saying something which is radically different. It means that their career is going to get really harmed if they are radically different from everybody else. So most will say, I must be doing something wrong, if they find something that doesn't agree with the accepted mainstream, because, after all, all of these other fields, they all are also agreeing with the mainstream and I'm saying something which is quite radically different from my little field, and they're going to be different.
Jennifer:
It's probably hard for us for me as a lay person to understand the pressure that they might feel. Because I as a lay person can say whatever I want, about 3520 BC, because that's not my area of expertise. That's not where my peers are, and I don't really know anything about it from a professional standpoint. But these people, if that's where they live and work all day every day, then it's much more of a pressure to stay within the party line.
Dr. Aardsma:
The peer pressure is huge. You'll be laughed at and you'll lose funding is what will end up happening. I never was much concerned about career. I had found ultimately that I couldn't do the work that needed to be done within any institution. So I went out on my own and that meant I didn't have to worry about my career. It was already over, so to speak, as far as advancing up the rungs of the ladder. So I didn't have to worry about that.