Given that there are billions of creatures on earth, and many are still unclassified, one would have to say cryptozoology is still a valid science. The difficulty comes when people are distracted by the weird, wonderful, and highly unlikely existence of Big Foot, Nessie the Loch Ness Monster, and Chupacabra style animals that regularly feast on human and animal blood. Tabloid stuff is so cool, but it is not science.
There is usually very reasonable explanations for sightings of monsters. In science we always have to tend toward the most simple and straightforward explanation, the idea of Occam’s razor, (1300) is most likely the correct one. That said, one must be open minded to learning. The word “tends” tells us the razor is not 100% reliable. Occam’s’ razor states: The simplest of explanations is more likely to be correct. Although its original Latin translation was less direct, the meaning is still applicable.
It is call a razor, in that it “shaves off” all unnecessary assumptions which simply add to useless speculation. Example, “My cat disappeared last night. She must have been abducted by a Chupacabra because she was shaking and distressed when I finally let her in, and appears to have a small puncture wound.” There is no reason to add vampire goats into the scenario at all, since all over the planet, dogs chased, nipped, and frightened some cats last night. It is a much more logical explanation, although, sadly, not nearly as interesting. Perhaps there really is some kind of Chupacabra, but there is no need to speculate that it is a vampire, or that he is after Fluffy, you, or anyone.
Ignorance and our willingness to believe almost anything is dangerous. We need to remain skeptical. In science we need to have reproducible proof; in politics we need to follow the money to see which special interests benefit from wild claims. In Industry, we have to be aware of new knowledge, such as the lives injured by oil spills, toxic production and waste, and things like disease caused by hydraulic fracturing to mine natural gas. This one sounds tabloid, but is possibly true.
We are obligated to investigate all claims of dangerous things, and we need to look for profit motive whether the tale is of a Bat Boy or a mega influential corporation that may potentially allow you to light water from your faucet on fire. We must figure out real threats, and discard fantastically entertaining non-real threats. Most of all, we need to stop fighting over assumptions, and reveal proof.
There is the possibility that something like “The hobbit” has lived on earth, and may still be around, and once upon a time even Nessie, swam about. Yet, in the world today, we have to focus on actual and not fictional stories, to tease out the facts.
Knowledge is power. Always keep an open mind, but do not let your mind be a sieve that collects nothing of substantive truth.
