“Knowledge within a discipline develops according to the principles of natural selection.” How useful is this metaphor?

“Knowledge within a discipline develops according to the principles of natural selection.” How useful is this metaphor?

1. Principles of Natural Selection

   • Organisms produce offspring with different traits, which can be inherited
   • Organisms produce more offspring than can survive because the world has limited resources
   • Offspring whose traits are best suited to their environment survive and pass on those variations to their offspring

2. Usefulness of a metaphor

   • Metaphors serve the purpose of comparing a familiar topic to a topic that we are not very familiar with
   • Accurate comparison of the two topics that are being mentioned

3. Area of knowledge

   • History
     • Conspiracy theories
       • JFK Assassination
         • Principles of Natural Selection applied to
           • Only 1 truth can be accepted, but various conspiracies are created
             • The false conspiracies act to strengthen the validity of the 'truth'
           • The 'fittest' truth (conspiracy) survives
         • Ways of knowing
           • Memory
             • Memory is reconstructive
           • Reason
             • Proof for the one-man theory
           • Emotion
             • Conspiracies generated from fear, uncertainty and doubt
         • Historians vs. Average people
           • Historians disregard the conspiracy theories
           • 61% Americans believe it was a conspiracy (gallup poll)
   • Natural sciences (Biology)
     • Natural Selection vs. Spontaneous generation
       • A single theory can be accepted, but numerous hypotheses were generated
       • One theory survives
       • Ways of knowing
         • Reason
           • Louis Pasteur's experiment
         • Imagination
           • Beginning of Life
       • Religion denying natural selection, insisting that spontaneous generation occured
       • Division within the discipline
         • Scientists with a political agenda?

4. What qualities of knowledge within a discipline make it the 'fittest'?

   • Proof?
   • Agreed upon by the majority?
   • Approval from authorities?