such entrenched beliefs illustrate exactly my point made...

such entrenched beliefs illustrate exactly my point made previously -

Once upon a time there were those who thought the earth was flat -

and a few people were biurned at the stake because they didn't toe the line with regard to the prevailing view -

Women after childbirth used to die like flies from puerpual fever because doctors (supposedly trained scientists) never saw the need to wash their hands, and used their ordinary clothers as wiping cloths. I bet they thought they were experts too. Most of them vigourously resisted accepting new ideas regarding
hygiene and disenfectants - too it as a personal insult -
and an imposition and reflection on their status, and their supposedly superior knowledge.

Of all the qualities one would hope for to be present in the scientific mind - and which very often is not there -is an open and receptive mind - lateral thinking - and an ability to consider and weigh new or alternate ideas, rather than doing all they can to maintain the status quo and having attitudes which are set in concrete. These freer thinkers, having the capacity to admit their mistakes, or that they could be wrong, are the only ones who will advance science to the benefit of all mankind, present and future.