The Nature of Science 17In particular, it is common for people making extraordinary claims (like creationism or
alien abductions or psychic powers) to wear a Ph.D. (if they have one) like a badge, advertise
it prominently on their book covers, and feature it in their biographies. They know that it
will impress and awe the listener or reader into thinking they are smarter than anyone else
or more qualified to pronounce on a topic. Nonsense! Unless the claimant has earned a Ph.D.
in the subject being discussed, the degree is entirely irrelevant to the controversy. For example,
leading creationists include the late Duane Gish, who had a doctorate in biochemistry, and
the late Henry Morris, who had a doctorate in hydraulic engineering. However, they both
earned their degrees almost 50 years ago, so they were not up-to-date in these rapidly chang-
ing fields that they have not practiced in decades. If they stuck to discussing just those top-
ics, they might be halfway believable, but all of their criticisms focus on the fossil record,
geology, thermodynamics, and so on—topics in which they have absolutely no firsthand
experience, published research, or training. Their entire knowledge of these fields (vividly
demonstrated by reading their books) consists of skimming and misquoting popular books
by real experts in those fields who did the actual work, not going out and doing the research
themselves or publishing in peer-reviewed journals. They are no more qualified to comment
on paleontology or geology, based on their irrelevant degrees, than they are qualified to fix
a car or critique music theory! Yet they always flaunt their Ph.D.s to awe the masses and try
to intimidate their opponents. The same goes for creationists like Jonathan Sarfati (physical
chemistry), Michael Behe (biochemistry), and Jonathan Wells (cell biology)—none of those
subjects gives them any background in fossils or paleontology, and none of these scientists
has published in any peer-reviewed paleontological journals, so they are complete amateurs
when it comes to fossils.
Similarly, there are many fringe and crackpot ideas in anthropology and paleontology,
and the more “way-out” they are, the more likely the author has put “Ph.D.” on the cover.
There is even a maverick paleontologist who does this on all his book covers and flaunts it
on the lecture circuit (where he is highly successful), even though he has been repeatedly
dumped by one academic institution after another, has not had an article published in a peer-
reviewed journal in many years, and has no credibility in professional organizations like the
Society of Vertebrate Paleontology. By contrast, legitimate scientists never put their degrees
on their book covers and seldom list their credentials on a scientific article. If you doubt this,
just look at the science shelves in your local bookstore. The quality of the research must stand
by itself, not be propped up by an appeal to authority based on your level of education. To
most scientists, credential mongering is a red-flag warning. If the author puts his or her
Ph.D. on the cover, beware of the stuff between the covers!
- Bold Statements and Scientific-Sounding Language Do Not Make It Science
People who want to promote their radical ideas are prone to exaggeration and famous for
making amazing pronouncements, such as “a milestone in human history” or “the greatest
discovery since Copernicus” or “a revolution in human thinking.” Our baloney detection
alarms should go off automatically when we hear politicians or actors try to hype policies or
movies that turn out to be much less than claimed. They should also scream in alarm when
we hear people making claims about human knowledge or science that seem overblown.
Another strategy to make a wild idea acceptable to the mainstream is to cloak it in the
language of science. This cashes in on the goodwill and credibility that science has in our