1) In the late 1800’s and early 1900’s early human remains were found. These remains resembled humans but were not what humans looked like today. I believed that the remains that were being found were of early human life which was later called Neanderthals. The remains were first discovered in Germany and later in France and Spain. The British had who believed that early man started in England, were upset because they had no discoveries. In 1912 a well known English archeologist named Charles Dawson claimed to discover human remains that were both man and ape. This was then known as the “missing link” in human evolution. Which was later called the “Piltdown man”. It was later discovered in the 1950’s that the fossils from the Piltdown man were proven to be fake. This caused an uproar in the scienctific community and made many question the human evolution process.
2) Because all scientists are human they are susceptible to normal human emotions such as pride, greed, envy, and anger. I believe whoever the conspirators were involved in the Piltdown man were arrogant and wanted recognition in this early life discovery. I believe the conspirators were prideful and wanted the credibility that early man first started in England. Unfortunately for these conspirators our technology advanced greatly in the next few decades and Scientist were able to test the age of fossils. This is when the discovery of the Piltdown hoax was made.
3) Scientist were able to test the fossils by a new dating technique called “the fluorine absorption test” Which uses the fluorine to determine the duration of time an object found in the ground has been there. They also discovered that the fossils were a combination of human and ape remains. They were able to discover that the bones had been stained with an iron solution and chromic acid, and the teeth were examined using a microscope and scientists learned that they were filed down to appear like human teeth.
4) Even if we wanted to remove human’s bias from future science we would not be able too. Humans are always going to have emotions that can affect their work. I would not want to remove the “human factor” from science. If it weren’t for scientist passion, rebellion, persistence, and drive we would not be as advanced as we are today.
5) I believe the life lesson I learned is you should be cautious and not believe everything you see and hear. Be open minded but not easily influenced, and take the time to determine your own beliefs.
I agree with you 100% on the Pride factor. Pride is what most likely drove those hoaxers to setting up a mock situation to boast about. I think humans will always have to be involved in science. We make mistakes but on the flip side, we have some great ideas too!!
ReplyDeleteWell done and I liked how you led into the story by outlining the findings in other countries. This was not just a human pride issue, it was also influenced by international politics as well.
ReplyDeleteI agree that for all of the problems introduced by the "human factor" we would not have the advances in science that we do without the creativity and curiousity we faulty humans bring to the process.
I like your view on the benefits of the human factor in science. You made me think about the benefits about how human emotion can make science excel. It is really difficult to decide whether or not the human factor is detrimental or advantageous.
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