Quote Originally Posted by hazetwostep
That is, what happens during a scientific revolution is literally a competition between different groups of scientists for the right to define reality. And the stronger group wins, perhaps by political means, and in spite of what may or not may be “truth”.
it's a question you asked Coelho, but I'll go ahead an chime in with some input since I'm bored...

Sounds just like the debate about evolution Vs. intelligent design. Both sides have scientists debating their claims for how life came to be. It becomes a legal issue for who is right or wrong about the scientific theories... whoever has the best argument and evidence wins despite who is really right..... and this is a debate that's got no end in sight. Many beliefs/morals are based in religion, and many political powers are also based in religion ("separation of church and state", what a joke). So it could be very easy for religion/politics to concede which theories are right despite what is the real truth. If enough people say so, then it must be so no matter how much real un-biased scientific evidence the other guys have - majority rules (usually). Now evolution's official status is just a theory, as is intelligent design... sort of a way to keep both sides happy for now to avoid so much conflict.

It's funny that I haven't heard anyone propose that a god made up the universal rules and set the Big Bang into motion then stepped back to watch it all unfold - evolution IS intelligent design. Sounds like a better compromise to me, but religious extremists would never buy it. that's all I'll say about that.