The Costanza Tactic

Does anyone remember the Seinfeld episode where George Costanza had a job interview, but at the end of the interview he wasn’t sure if he’d been offered the job or not? The hiring manager was going to be out for a week so George had the idea that he would just show up at the office while the manager was gone and say he’d been hired. Whenever the manager returned, it would be hard to deny his employment because he would already be “ensconced.” It finally dawned on me that evolutionists have been using this same tactic for years. Now, I’m not claiming any conspiracy. Perhaps it’s unintentional but the effect is still the same. Let me explain:

We’ll start with Piltdown Man. This was the ideal example of an ape/human transitional fossil and was once considered THE proof of evolution. For 40 years, it was considered to be an ancestor of man and many people believed in evolution because of it. When it finally came to light that it was a fraud, “oh well,” evolution was already ensconced.

Nebraska Man is another example of this. From a single tooth, an artist’s rendering of a full, primitive man hunting and using tools was presented to the public. This wasn’t a technical or “scientific” illustration but it was presented to the public as proof of evolution and I’m sure it made quite an impression. It was even given the scientific name, Hesperopithecus haroldcookii. Sure it was later discovered to be only a pig’s tooth but never mind that – evolution was further ensconced.

I can’t find a source now but I recall hearing once that nearly every candidate considered an ancestor of man up to the time of the Scopes trial (no scientific evidence was discussed at the Scopes trial) was later rejected by the scientific community. But it was during this time that evolution was coming to the forefront in the public eye. All the evidence that was used to convince people of the “fact” of evolution was ultimately rejected by the same scientists that presented it. But of course, peoples’ minds were already made up so, even though the evidence was bogus, the theory was ensconced.

The most recent example is Lucy. Casts of this partial skeleton have been viewed by millions of people in museums all around the world and has been perhaps the champion of human ancestor candidates for years. But even Lucy is starting to have her critics and may be on her way out as well. If that happens, it doesn’t matter because she’s already served her purpose. Evolution is further ensconced.

Of course there are other candidates still in the running and scientists will continue looking for that magic bullet. New fossils may come to light someday that will make people ooh and ah for a while. Headlines will read something like, “Oldest Ancestor of Man Found” or “New Find Confirms Evolution of Man.” When the new find is finally rejected it won’t make 1 bit of difference. Scientists will just keep looking for the next sensational find and the public will continue being told that evolution is a fact. You see, ToE is already ensconced.

If all the evidence that made someone believe evolution is later thrown out, I’m a little surprised more people don’t begin to doubt the theory itself. A lot of what was once “known” about evolution turns out later to be wrong based on new findings but evolution itself keeps chugging along. Evolution is ensconced. Here’s a headline I doubt we’ll ever see: “New Find Causes Scientists to Doubt Evolution.” Some evolutionists admit that even a rabbit found in the Pre-Cambrian layer would not disprove evolution. Nothing will disprove evolution. Evolution is already ensconced.

Evolution has prospered from good PR. Present evidence as proof of evolution, convince the public that evolution is true, throw out evidence later because it was wrong all along, public continues to believe in evolution. It’s the Costanza Tactic.