Re: Was Greece the birthplace of humanity?
Reply #24 –
Do you find any irony in the condemnation of the claims made in Flores, contrasted to the positive commentary around Rising Star and the subsequent Lesedi finds. There seems to be a lot of heavy politicisation of this science, subjectively I see more than I have noticed in other disciplines.
Do you think the race to publish is damaging the research, sensational claims now seem to be a requirement of publication?
After 40 years in the field, I'm still amazed at how some folk fight against new discoveries that cast doubt on their work or stated position. We know so little about the past that it is inevitable that theories will be displaced/replaced as new discoveries are made.
The Flores 'hobbits' were caught up in a particularly nasty debate fuelled in part by the megalomania of the head of Indonesian archaeology. Unfortunately, one of the principals of the team passed away before the significance of the finds was confirmed ... until the next discovery!
Publish or perish does play a role but peer review should iron out the more outrageous articles.