Mission

Why would scientists ignore evidence?

Some scientists occasionally ignore evidence-and sometimes violently. Why would they do this? American journalist and bestselling author,James Gleick explained it this way: "Shallow ideas can be assimilated; ideas that require people to reorganize their picture of the world provoke hostility."

When scientists refuse to look because they "know better," others can swoop in to make the big discoveries. That happened when English amateur, Frank Calvert, discovered Troy at Hisarlik, Turkey (Schliemann came later).

Ironically, the same arrogance that had blinded the experts still persists today.

But Atlantis? Yes, we have evidence. Lots of it. Not yet enough to prove Plato's lost island empire existed, but some compelling-even startling-evidence, including 3bits of scientific fact that tell us something truly earth shattering happened right when Plato said Atlantis was destroyed.

• Dramatic change in climate worldwide, 33x as fast as the UN IPCC's feared warming of the 21st century.
• A massive volcanic eruption.
• A sudden drop in sea level worldwide of between 2 and 7.4 meters.
• All happening 9620 BC-a virtual bullseye for the tectonic collapse of Atlantis.

For decades, "Clovis First" was sacred dogma in North American anthropology. Experts warned scientists not to dig below the Clovis horizon. If a scientist dared betray Clovis, they could lose funding or even their careers. But this isn't science. This is politics and egoism. And how can dogma in science be overturned if no one looks for evidence?

Sadly, this behavior is all too common in science. Stray too far from what is popular and you could be scrambling to learn a new career.

Proof of Atlantis?

Even first-year geology students know that mountains frequently form at tectonic plate boundaries from subduction and magmatic arcs, or from convergent compression when there are impediments to subduction, as with the continental "bone" of India colliding with the Eurasia. When such mountains form in the ocean, they sometimes become islands. And the region Plato picked for Atlantis is along a tectonic plate boundary.

Mission: Atlantis may well be a true monument to scholarship, but more importantly, it remains a wake-up call to scientists everywhere to snap out of their self-imposed blindness when it comes to unpopular ideas. Both science and human civilization deserve far better.