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Whats the previous set of beliefs^H^H^H^H^H^H^H views that this is news?

The "news" are the findings of the paper. Not sure why beliefs should matter for the value of scientific work

Come on... An even slightly charitable reading of parents' comment would realize that they don't mean "belief" in the religious sense.

It's pretty safe to assume they are asking what the previously understood and accepted academic stance on the matter was, and are asking how the findings of this paper differ in a way to make it newsworthy.

If he can't figure that out, i'd regret having asked that question because i dont feel like the other replies will be of better quality. Ignore the thread please, y'all.

I simply wasn't sure what to make of your comment. I probably shouldn't have assumed the worst in the face of ambiguity. The sentiment that science needs to be newsworthy wrt actual beliefs is omnipresent online, indicating (to me) a wrong canvas for your post.

But Science is still belief. Because belief is orthogonal to whether its researched, well informed, guessed or made up.

"Charitable reading" is something I should definitely lean more towards. Out of habit I usually assume the worst, maybe I should reflect on that.

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