Very worthwhile thoughts. I am finishing edits on a novel where Mokele-mbembe does turn out to be a surviving lineage of sauropods, but with explanations for their survival after the extinction and how they stayed hidden until now.
I don't think we should shut the door on cryptids entirely, but yes, respect the scientific method and refrain from ad hoc explanations ("Bigfoot is interdimensional!"), with the mindset of conserving an endangered species if anything turns out to exist.
Love it! Yes to science AND also mysticism.
Very worthwhile thoughts. I am finishing edits on a novel where Mokele-mbembe does turn out to be a surviving lineage of sauropods, but with explanations for their survival after the extinction and how they stayed hidden until now.
I don't think we should shut the door on cryptids entirely, but yes, respect the scientific method and refrain from ad hoc explanations ("Bigfoot is interdimensional!"), with the mindset of conserving an endangered species if anything turns out to exist.