The Piltdown Hoax was a forged discovery of bone fragments that were claimed to be ancient human by Charles Dawson in 1912. He "discovered" these fragments in Piltdown, England and brought in scientists to determine whether or not it was a valid find. The discovery of these fragments had a large impact on the scientific community because of its significance. This was believed to be the remains of an unknown human species that has yet to be discovered. The finding was deemed a hoax in 1953 when scientists and the ever growing technology at the time revealed that the fossil was in fact the fossil of an orangutan. Scientists reacted with astonishment and disappointment as findings by scientists that were deemed invalid were rare at the time.
One of the largest faults that humans contain is the need to feel superior and feel on a level of prestige and importance. The hoax proves to show that humans, while trying to do the best for science, integrate emotion and self indulgence when finding an important artifact. When Dawson knew he was onto something big, he had though of himself as an important figure in the scientific community. Perhaps the hoax was created as a joke, or merely a sleek observation on the actual "work" that scientists do everyday, discovering new things.
Some positive aspects of the Piltdown hoax may include the fact that the scientists who discovered the hoax did a very good job in researching and analyzing the fossil. Another is the advancement of scientific technology that enabled them to do so. They were able to prove that the fossil was in fact that of an orangutan through extensive research. Through microscopic examination, scientists were able to conclude that the teeth had been filed down and certain solutions were used to create the imitation of an early human skull.
I do not believe that it is possible to remove the "human" factor from science because at the end of each day that is exactly what we are. There are situations where emotion come into play and can affect our work. While the reason science exists is because we are trying to find definition in the term, "life" there is a part of us that must ask, "Should I?" Errors like this occur because we are human. There are times when I would want to remove the term "human" from science because science is merely observation and determination to prove facts. When the word, "human" is thrown into the mix, there are good chances that aspects of science may alter or be at risk because of our deep emotional states.
A good life lesson would be to do your homework. When you are presented with something found or obtained, it would be a good idea to know exactly where it came from, who gave it to you, and if it is real. That is the only true way to verify an item's importance and value.
Hello Richard,
ReplyDeleteI truly enjoyed reading your essay, you covered up excellent points about people's emotional states. I agree with you that sometimes people's emotions can come into play and affect their work. It is apparent that the person who went out of his way to create this discovery was an intelligent individual who knew what he was doing all along. I'm quite sure he's fully aware of the publicity, fame, prestige, and power he was going to received, very selfish motives.
Hey Richard,
ReplyDeleteYour post this week was really good. You covered all the main points that were asked, and your formatting is nice. I also talked about how people have the need to feel prestiage and i agree it had a big part in the hoax. We also had the same views on if the human factor can be taken out of science. I think that you could have expanded on the life lesson question, but i laughed when i read the do your homework line.
In general, good background on the hoax. The only thing missing is its significance. What would this fossil find have taught us about human evolution had it been a valid find?
ReplyDeleteI agree with your conclusion about human faults. Aside from the faults that led to the hoax being perpetuated in the first place, why did scientists accept this find so readily without critical review?
Just for clarification, the jaw was from an orangutan but the skull was human. Otherwise, I agree with your positive aspects of science, in terms of the techniques and steps they took to uncover the fraud. Can you think of characteristics of the process of science itself which led to eventually uncovering the fraud? How about repetition? Peer review? Skepticism?
Good section on the human factor (I agree) and good final summary.
This post was really good. It was interesting to read a few things that I didn't find in my own research on the subject like, I didn't realize that when Dawson found these 'fossils' that he actually brought people in to verify that his findings were valid. The only thing that I would add is that the fake findings were not entirely from an orangutan but also came from a human skull as well.
ReplyDeleteYour essay was good and very well written. It looks you covered everything very clearly and i also agree with you that it is impossible to remove the human factor and that emotions can effect a lot of things.
ReplyDeleteOverall great post! i enjoyed reading about your view point on the human aspect of schience and agree that sometimes humans can be come too emotionally attached to what ever it is we are doing. i also enjoyed your paragraph on the positives that resulted from the finding of the hoax.
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