I agree, it’s impossible to completely divorce humans of their biases. One way is to create a system of diversity in rival ideas. So while a scientist is a noun, science should be viewed as a verb. The person may be biased, but the goal is that the process is not. (Still easier said than done).

I didn’t really intend to convey the idea that I thought bias was the major factor. As a practical matter, if you’re an expert in a field and your foundational theories are seriously challenged, it challenges your foundation as an expert.

It’s fun to talk about scientists as these staunch defenders of their theories and say “science advances one funeral at a time” but the reality of the situation is that sometimes scientists are faced with the realization that their entire life’s work is in ruins. It’s hard to imagine a more severe test of character than that. Harder still to imagine how one might pick up the pieces and move on to something else and still be able to contribute to science in a meaningful way.