An Old Paleontological In Joke Proclaims That

Sigmund Freud Often Remarked That Great Revolutions In The History Of Science Have But One Common, And Ironic, Feature: They Knock Human Arrogance Off One Pedestal After Another Of Our Previous Conviction About Our Own Self-importance.

Something Deep Within Us Drives Accurate Messiness Into The Neat Channels Of Canonical Stories.

The Essence Of Darwinism Lies In Its Claim That Natural Selection Creates The Fit. Variation Is Ubiquitous And Random In Direction. It Supplies Raw Material Only. Natural Selection Directs The Course Of Evolutionary Change.

Great Theories Are Expansive; Failures Mire Us In Dogmatism And Tunnel Vision.

Skepticism's Bad Rap Arises From The Impression That, However Necessary The Activity, It Can Only Be Regarded As A Negative Removal Of False Claims. Not So... Proper Debunking Is Done In The Interest Of An Alternate Model Of Explanation, Not As A Nihilistic Exercise. The Alternate Model Is Rationality Itself, Tied To Moral Decency--the Most Powerful Joint Instrument For Good That Our Planet Has Ever Known.