Uncurbed dogma

We all need a warning about "knowing" what we don't really know | Joel Belz

Among the most embarrassing moments of my life are those times when I was an enthusiastic participant in a conversation-probably dominating the talk more than I should have been-only to discover that I was mixed up or just plain wrong about something that I thought I knew for sure to be a fact. Such discoveries are painful.

That came into sharp focus again over the last couple of weeks when space scientists were forced to admit that they were having to backtrack from some arrogant assertions made just 18 months ago. Then they were claiming loudly that a chunk of Mars had been discovered embedded in the ice of Antarctica. And they didn't shrink from drawing all kinds of absolutely certain conclusions from their discovery-most notably that certain microbes found on the rock virtually proved that there is life on Mars. By this month, though, all that "documented fact" was being apologized for by some as, well, just a bit of understandable human error. Others were not so contrite. One NASA scientist said none of the evidence "changes our original hypothesis. It doesn't shake our belief one bit." It was like the old saw: "Don't confuse me with facts. My mind is already made up."