Over recent years, there has been an ever-increasing series of announcements from astronomers stating genuine surprise about findings ranging from the planetary sciences to large-scale galactic structures. The announcements quite frequently admit that not only does the current explanatory model at hand not predict the observations, but in fact, there are warnings that the community needs to re-think our understanding at the most fundamental level. Rationally speaking, one might think findings such as these would invite a fire-storm of controversy, debates, and an approach to a new understanding. However, this is not the case, and instead the explanatory models persist without any apparent tremor in their underpinnings. What is most interesting about these examples is the psychological behavior revealed at this level of human organization.
This presentation by Dr. Tom Wilson called “When the Surprise Is Unsurprising: The Siren Song of Certainty” explores some of the most notable of these “surprising” observations in recent years, the trend towards surprise in the planetary and astrophysical sciences becoming commonplace, and explores possible fundamental human needs and fears that may account for an apparent breakdown in scientific thought and methodology.
Tom Wilson has a PhD in plant physiology but has worked in the semiconductor industry for the last 20 years. He was born and raised in Canada but now resides in the UK. He is the voice behind the successful Thunderbolts Project YouTube Channel series “What If? Asking the Dangerous Questions.”
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