Dr. Martin Rundkvist is a Swedish archaeologist, journal editor, public speaker, chairman of the Swedish Skeptics Society, atheist, lefty liberal, bookworm, and father of two.
I just came across an unbelievably crappy argument in a scientific debate between two professors. I must keep the details obscure, but the basic form of the exchange follows.
X: I have discovered that tomatoes were grown in Ireland in the Neolithic.Y: That is highly unlikely. The seeds and leaf remains that form almost the entire base of your assertions belong to turnips. Just check out these pictures for comparison.
X: Professor Y subscribes to an earlier Kuhnian paradigm than myself. Therefore his work is incommensurable with mine, and he is by definition unable to criticise me. I remain convinced that tomatoes were grown in Ireland in the Neolithic.
I tell you people, I am reeling.
Humanities & Social Science
Comments
But of course we had tomatoes in the Neolithic! That explains why our traditional Irish chilli and bolognese are so good.
Posted by: paddy | August 6, 2008 10:22 AM
I hope that's an Irish Reel.
Posted by: Mick | August 6, 2008 10:41 AM
Someone needs to reread Kuhn.
Posted by: Mark | August 6, 2008 10:57 AM
Mmmmmm. Prehistoric cave tomatoes.
Posted by: Bert Chadick | August 6, 2008 4:49 PM
X must be a swede.....
Posted by: Astrofys | August 6, 2008 6:22 PM
I very sincerely hope Prof. X is not a natural scientist...
"Yes, I know our evaluators say our robot project is a failure, what with the thing bursting into flames whenever we try to turn it on. But that's just because they see it from the perspective of an earlier, obsolete Kuhnian paradigm of course; the project is actually a great success. So you will of course continue our funding, right?"
Posted by: Janne | August 6, 2008 10:38 PM
Seriously, I just don't know what kind of world I live in when
A. Someone with that insane attitude reaches professor-ship
B. Someone who makes such a statment is not immediately asked to pack their bags or check into the nearest rehab...
I wonder what s/he would feel if overhearing two doctors discussing the right treatment and using arguments likte this.
Posted by: ArchAsa | August 7, 2008 6:53 AM
Names! We want names!
Posted by: Henrik | August 7, 2008 12:45 PM
Watch out. Professor X might send his X-men after you if you annoy him. Or he may just use his mutant powers to change your mind more...directly.
But seriously, claiming to be on the leading edge of a paradigm shift gets points on John Baez's crackpot index (okay, that's for physicists, but maybe something similar should exist for archaeologists).
Posted by: Escuerd | August 8, 2008 2:01 AM
When I first read your item I thought you were using "tomatoes/Ireland/Neolithic" as a stand-in for some other debate (which you didn't want to identify because it would out Profs. X and Y), an analogy, in other words. But, most of the writers here are taking your terms literally, so I got to ask, did this turkey really claim tomatoes were grown in Neolithic Ireland?
Posted by: CCBC | August 9, 2008 3:40 AM
No, CCBC, your original interpretation was correct.
Posted by: Martin R | August 9, 2008 9:54 AM
Marcus, I heard you were dead.
Not at all, here I am.
But Petrus said you were dead, and he's always right.
Posted by: Kaleberg | August 10, 2008 10:36 PM