Whateverelsemaybesaidofthiskindofdoctrine，itisatleastoriginalandhasaconclusivesound。MarkTwainhadverylittleusefororthodoxyandconservatism。WhenitwasannouncedthatDr。JacquesLoeb，oftheUniversityofCalifornia，haddemonstratedthecreationoflifebychemicalagencieshewasdeeplyinterested。Whenanewspaperwritercommentedthata\"consensusofopinionamongbiologists\"wouldprobablyrateDr。Loebasamanoflivelyimaginationratherthananinerrantinvestigatorofnaturalphenomena，hefeltcalledtochafftheconsensusidea。
IwishIcouldbeasyoungasthatagain。AlthoughIseemsooldnowIwasonceasyoungasthat。Iremember，asifitwerebutthirtyorfortyyearsago，howaparalyzingconsensusofopinionaccumulatedfromexpertsa—settingaroundaboutbrotherexpertswhohadpatientlyandlaboriouslycold—chiseledtheirwayintooneoranotherofnature’ssafe—depositvaultsandwerereportingthattheyhadfoundsomethingvaluablewasplentyforme。Itsettledit。
Butitisn’tsonow—no。BecauseinthedriftoftheyearsIbyandbyfoundoutthataConsensusexaminesanewthingwithitsfeelingsratheroftenerthanwithitsmind。
Therewasthatprimitivesteam—engine—agesback，inGreektimes：aConsensusmadefunofit。TherewastheMarquisofWorcester’ssteam—engine250yearsago：aConsensusmadefunofit。TherewasFulton’ssteamboatofacenturyago：aFrenchConsensus，includingthegreatNapoleon，madefunofit。TherewasPriestley，withhisoxygen：aConsensusscoffedathim，mobbedhim，burnedhimout，banishedhim。WhileaConsensuswasproving，bystatisticsandthings，thatasteamshipcouldnotcrosstheAtlantic，asteamshipdidit。
Andsoonthroughadozenpagesormoreoflivelysatire，endingwithanextractfromAdam’sDiary。