I am unaware of any similar machinations in astronomy. Where's the evidence?
Yet its ideas became generally accepted, partially due to the influence of astronomers in powerful positions. Some had the ears of kings. They just didn't have a dinner club.
Did these "some" become convinced before or after they obtained their positions? Did they obtain their positions on merit, or was there finagling involved?
I have presented evidence. Where is yours?
I consider this forum more appropriate because the conspiracy theory forum deals with controversial, disputed conspiracies.
That the X Club existed is not in dispute. That they are responsible for the almost universal scientific acceptance of evolution today, is. I repeat, the fact that scientists were actually convinced by the evidence (and continue to be) -- rather than browbeaten and bamboozled by this group of people -- apparently hasn't crossed your mind.
It has indeed. I have kept my eyes open, but I have come across no YEC scientists in the era who were persuaded. Only a few very nominally (for political reasons) "creationist" scientists who saw the opportunity to "come out of the closet".
Neither do I see evolutionist historians bragging about conversions.
If you have evidence...
Evolutionists don't dispute the X Club - they may brag about it, or emphasize what great scientists were members, or sometimes suggest it could've done this or that better (you know, trying to learn from past mistakes). They sometimes get around to the infighting and side with one or another faction. Another basic theme is still to prevent accurate assessment of the organization's strength.
I'm honestly not passionate enough about the subject to care much. What I see -- what any serious scientist sees -- is that evolution explains the evidence well, and no one has proposed an alternative model that comes close. The history or politics become irrelevant when you look at it this way.
Who can fault you for not caring? But some of us do care. We study our enemy's tactics that we may learn how to counter them.
What is your alternative model, and can it be tested and falsified?
Do you attempt to derail all threads, or just the ones I start?
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But an important issue has come up:
Even if the X Club was successful, would its success be limited to Great Britain?
Anyone familiar with the Victorian Era should have no problem beginning to understand the answer. The very term "Victorian Era" applies worldwide - not just to British territory. That's because there was one undisputed superpower during the timeframe.
Just as all eyes were on the U.S. during the second half of the 20th century, so all eyes turned to the British Empire. They were dominant economically, militarily, technologically, and politically.
Into this setting comes the X Club. They take over nearly all key scientific positions. They establish funding to industrialize, propagandize, and (further) politicize science (both kinds, science as science, and science as euphemism for atheism).
I think the international aspect of their campaign is where the awards come in. They convey prestige by means of awards, but this isn't enough. They establish new awards in order to pile it on. Means nothing domestically - everyone knows they're just patting themselves on the back. But internationally, these awards are a powerful propaganda tool.
Also noteworthy is the appeal of Social Darwinism, a philosophic phenomenon which spread rapidly among the whole world's exploitationists. One member of the X Club was pushing Social Darwinism - I remember that much. So the X Club had potential allies everywhere. Greedy, wealthy potential allies.
People viewing my "Cracking Down" thread should also take note of the ease with which circular arguments in favor of evolutionism can be formulated. The common peasant may not have been well-equipped to counter such fallacious reasoning, and the scientists who were well-equipped were being systematically replaced.
I think I'll do some more digging. To use a mythbusters phrase, the worldwide spread of evolutionism by means other than scientific merit: "totally plausible" at this point.
