And I will break the pride of your power;
and I will make your heaven as iron,
and your earth as brass:
Leviticus 26:19
"....by E. G. Boring, Professor Emeritus of Psychology at Harvard. The article appeared in 1964 in Science (145:680-5).
He calls attention to the necessary lack of certainty in science and speaks of the changing paradigms in science. These are essentially fundamental hypotheses or points of view.
A change in a scientific paradigm results
in a scientific revolution.
He cites the geocentric theory of Ptolemy as an example of a
Another term that Boring uses is "egoism" which he believes is the generator of dissonance between pride and objectivity. He believes, and most historians of science will agree with him, that scientists cling tenaciously to conceptual schemes even in the light of mounting evidence against them.
The very lifeblood of scientific progress is change: to deny this is to deny science. Yet scientists form an emotional attachment to the hypotheses and theories which they have come to accept.
--There is a pride of authorship,
--a fierce loyalty to the conceptual scheme which the individual has espoused.
--The longevity of a pet theory is directly proportional to the hero status of its proponent:
yet in the course of time, all conceptual schemes are doomed either to be, modified or replaced completely."
SymposiumOfCreation