21. Confirmation Bias in Service of a Racist Myth
It was in Africa that fossils of Homo erectus, an early hominid, had been discovered. That however meant that the cradle of mankind was in Africa, and that all humans were of African origin. At the turn of the twentieth century, the idea that they were ultimately African was too jarring for many Europeans, including many British scholars. Piltdown Man offered a feasible alternative, and thus a convenient out, from the challenge posed to the racist theories of the day by humanity’s African origins.
Also, if the “missing link” discovered in the English countryside was accurate, it would mean that Britain had played a prominent role in human evolution. It would also buttress the belief that Europeans – or at least the British – had evolved separately from Africans. Thus, the era’s racist assumptions and beliefs in the myth that Europeans were a distinct and superior branch of the human tree could continue unchallenged. All of that combined to fuel confirmation bias on the part of British scientists and made them interpret the “evidence” in the light most favorable to their preexisting prejudices.
