Role of Non-Social and Environmental Factors in Scientific Change

In addition to interactions between people in a community, what role do interactions between people and their natural, non-social environment have on the process of scientific change?

While it is evident that sociocultural factors play some role in the process of scientific change, there is an equally important question to be answered regarding the interactions between people and their natural, non-social environment. This question requires answering how biological factors and evolutionary direction play a role in the process of scientific change. For example, it is possible that two communities held different beliefs about tigers: the first believed that tigers were dangerous and should be avoided, while the second believed that tigers posed no threat. In this scenario, the first community would have survived, while latter would likely die off. Thus, the question seeks to elucidate whether or not there are theories which are selected for biological or evolutionary reasons, or are restricted by cognitive constraints. It is also important to note that this question does not seek to examine instances of natural disasters, or instances in which a tragedy occurs due to something beyond our control.

In the scientonomic context, this question was first formulated by Paul Patton, Karl Loszak and Calahan Janik-Jones in 2017. The question is currently accepted as a legitimate topic for discussion by Scientonomy community.

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Community	Accepted From	Acceptance Indicators	Still Accepted	Accepted Until	Rejection Indicators
Scientonomy	31 March 2017	This question was acknowledged as legitimate in the Scientonomy Seminar 2017.	Yes

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This question is a subquestion of Mechanism of Scientific Change.