Science Forums 2

[Pyrotex]

Many are called, but few are chosen.
Many people become scientists -- or, at least, they earn the degrees and credentials that enable them to claim to be scientists, fully qualified members of the "community of scientists".
But not all of them will make break-through discoveries. But this has very little to do with whether or not they are "close-minded".

To begin with, Krim, please define "close-minded". What do you mean by that phrase when you use it?

Being a "scientist" can take many forms. Some do brilliant work at teaching students, some manage to make new discoveries that do not shake the current paradigm, some find or invent new ways to measure universal constants to ever more precision, some confirm (or invalidate) the findings of others, some find commercial applications for older science, some find physical applications for older mathematics, some perform experiments that fail but in so doing eliminate some promising new theory.

These contributions to Science are all valid and important. All these contributions can, and often do, contribute to eventual Paradigm Shifts (which will bear somebody else's name--but that's okay). The majority of "scientists" do their best out of a love for the work; many will find themselves simply at the wrong place, or the wrong time, to get to do the BIG Science. Others will lack the inter-personal skills necessary to be a member of a scientific team. Others will be pulled away by personal interests. And yes, some may be dogmatic about this or that accepted Theory and be unwilling to consider alternatives.

To say that any "scientist" who doesn't personally accomplish cutting-edge Science, is somehow "close-minded", is irrational and unsubstantiated. All the more so if the speaker is not him or herself a professional scientist who has spent significant years working with and among them.