Embarrassment, Not Falsification

When scientific findings are overturned, they rarely disappear; instead they survive as awkward or rebranded versions because researchers, journals, and institutions have social and career incentives to salvage prior claims. That survival looks like continued publication on related terms (e.g., 'embodiment' for power posing) and public disagreement among experts even after large-scale replications. — If overturned results persist by becoming 'embarrassing' rather than being retired, policy and public debates will keep drawing on unreliable evidence and scientific self-correction will be slower and messier than imagined.