“Cannot afford” is probably too strong a statement by far. Apparently Margulis is famous for substantiating the endosymbiosis theory of (many) organelles, which was highly unpopular when she did so. And yet I don’t recall any creationist materials saying that the success of this different theory means that creationism is right. Gould’s proposals about punctuated equilibria are occasionally claimed to be evidence for creationism, but it’s fairly rare. The cost here is probably quite bearable (though nonzero).
“Cannot afford” is probably too strong a statement by far. Apparently Margulis is famous for substantiating the endosymbiosis theory of (many) organelles, which was highly unpopular when she did so. And yet I don’t recall any creationist materials saying that the success of this different theory means that creationism is right. Gould’s proposals about punctuated equilibria are occasionally claimed to be evidence for creationism, but it’s fairly rare. The cost here is probably quite bearable (though nonzero).