re: #672 buzzsawmonkey

It’s not quite that simple. For one thing, people like to have the approval of their peers. Scientists are not immune to this emotion. For another, as someone noted upthread somewhere, scientists do not in general make a lot of money; however, they can—do—live well by being invited to international conferences and getting fellowships or other invitations to do research or to teach in other locales.

Surely you know how peer review works. One scientist might come up with data that goes against the grain and it is then reviewed by his/her peers. If the peer review holds up, the entire direction of science can change.I recall that happening when plate tectonics was first proposed.